blazingstar wrote:
The article ironpony posted states that he was released based on a technicality. Some of Cosby’s statements in a pervious civil suit where he had no 5th amendment rights were used to convict him. The judge said he could be retried if those statements were left out.
Cosby made some incriminating statements in the civil suit because the criminal charges were dropped.
It wasn't a technicality. It was a serious violation of his right to due process.
The previous District Attorney saw nearly no chance of successfully prosecuting Crosby without Crosby's testimony. So instead, to get something out of it, he announced that they would not prosecute Crosby. With this, Crosby could not plead the 5th amendment in a deposition for a lawsuit with a victim.
Then, ten years later, a new District Attorney prosecuted Crosby in spite of the previous District Attorney's public statements that required Crosby to admit his crime and he used Crosby's admissions against him in trial and Crosby was convicted.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania came down hard against the District Attorney in their opinion. I didn't read the decision in detail, but from what I did read, it is very clear that the prosecutor is not permitted to try Crosby again on those charges. They flat out said that the prosecutor's statement that Crosby would not be prosecuted is binding on future prosecutors.
Unless I completely misunderstood the decision, there is zero chance that the prosecutor can prosecute Crosby again for that crime. They could possibly try him on other cases, but I think that the statute of limitations has expired.