Bill Cosby speaks out after prison release; insists on his innocence

Bill Cosby is insisting on his innocence, amid massive backlash following his prison release on Wednesday.

The retired comedian, who was convicted in 2005 after several decades of dealing with sexual assault allegations, has been released after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his prosecution. The 83-year-old who has since returned to his home, said in a statement released on Twitter, "I have never changed my stance nor my story. I have always maintained my innocence."

"Thank you to all my fans, supporters and friends who stood by me through this ordeal. Special thanks to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for upholding the rule of law," he added.

The former actor had only served nearly three years of his 10-year sentence, which was imposed on him in 2018 after he was held guilty for three counts of aggravated indecent assault. The decision was overturned because of an agreement he made with then-Montgomery County district attorney Bruce Castor in 2005, which stated that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he sits for a deposition in a civil case brought by one of his accusers, Andrea Constand, reports People magazine.

Castor declined to prosecute Cosby in the case because he didn't believe that there was enough evidence against him. However, Castor's successor Kevin Steele got Cosby arrested in 2015 days before the statute of limitations expired using his deposition where the comedian confessed that he used to give quaaludes to women with whom he wanted to have sex, and also admitted to numerous extramarital affairs.

In its fresh judgment, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the decision to use Cosby's statements from his deposition against him deprived him of his Fifth Amendment rights, and stated that the actor had been subject to "an unconstitutional 'coercive bait-and-switch'" which is a "due process violation."

Andrea Constand had also played a huge role in Cosby's prosecution with her testimony that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by the actor at his Pennsylvania mansion in 2004. Five other women also helped convince jurors to convict Cosby with their testimony. However, Cosby denied the accusations levelled by the six women inside the courtroom, as well as the allegations made by more than 60 women outside the court.

Constand released a statement via her attorney to criticise the fresh ruling, and said, "On the one hand, the Court acknowledged that the former district attorney's decision not to prosecute Mr. Cosby was not a formal immunity agreement and constituted at best a unilateral exercise of prosecutorial discretion not to prosecute at the time, but nevertheless precluded a future prosecution, which included additional evidence dropped in the civil case."