Bill Cosby's Sexual Assault Conviction Overturned After Spending 2 Years in Prison

By Alyssa Wilson Published: June 30, 2021

Bill Cosby’s Sexual Assault Conviction Overturned After Spending 2 Years in Prison

FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2018, file photo, Bill Cosby arrives for a sentencing hearing following his sexual assault conviction at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Norristown Pa. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear actor Cosby's appeal of his felony sex assault conviction on Dec. 1, 2020. The 83-year-old Cosby is two years into a three- to 10-year prison term. A lower appeals court had upheld his conviction, but the state's high court agreed this year to review two key issues in the case. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

By: Alyssa Wilson

WARNING: This story contains information about sexual assault.

The sexual assault conviction for actor and comedian Bill Cosby has been overturned by Pennsylvania’s highest court on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported.

Cosby served more than two years of the sentence, set to last three to ten years at a state prison. The 83-year-old actor was convicted of drugging and molesting an employee of Temple University at his suburban estate.

He was arrested days before the 12-year statute of limitations expired, and was then subsequently charged in 2015. The jury deadlocked in the first trial with one other accuser testifying against Cosby. In a second trial, five other people came forward testifying about their experiences with him in the 1980s.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said the testimony tainted the trial, even though a lower appeals court found it appropriate to show a pattern of behavior.

Prosecutors did not say if they would appeal or seek to try Cosby for the third time.