Bill Cosby 's 'disgusted' accusers have described his release as a 'kick in the gut' as he walked free from prison Wedn...
Bill Cosby's 'disgusted' accusers have described his release as a 'kick in the gut' as he walked free from prison Wednesday, just hours after his sexual assault conviction was overturned in a stunning ruling.
Lisa Bloom, the attorney for three of the 83-year-old's alleged victims including model Janice Dickinson slammed the decision to throw out his conviction as evidence that the 'system still massively favors the rich and powerful'.
'He is not released because he is innocent,' she said in a statement on behalf of the women who she said were dealt a 'slap in the face' by the courts.
Another accuser Beth Ferrier said the outcome does not prove her alleged attacker's innocence while fellow alleged victim Victoria Valentino told how her 'stomach lurched' on hearing Cosby was now free and could not be retried for his crimes.
The disgraced comedian, once known as 'America's dad', left state prison in suburban Montgomery County Wednesday after serving less than three years of a three to 10 year sentence for drugging and sexually assaulting Temple University sports administrator Andrea Constand at his home in Pennsylvania in 2004.
His release came after Pennsylvania's highest court threw out his conviction, ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor's promise not to prosecute him.
The shock overturning of his sentence comes as a major blow to the #MeToo movement and the at least 60 women who came forward to accuse the comedian of sexual assault and misconduct, with many of them speaking out Wednesday to condemn the ruling.
Bill Cosby outside his home in Pennsylvania on Wednesday with his legal team after being released from prison
Bill Cosby arrives home after being released from prison in Pennsylvania Wednesday
'The 3 Bill Cosby accusers I represent and I are disgusted that he is a free man today. He is not released because he is innocent,' said Lisa Bloom in a statement.
'He is released because a prosecutor promised him years ago that he would not be brought to justice, without even making a deal for him to do time.'
Bloom commended Dickinson's 'brave decision' as one of five women who testified against Cosby at his 2018 trial as part of the prosecution's efforts to show a pattern of behavior.
'I will never forget my client Janice Dickinson's brave decision to testify as a 'prior bad acts' witness in Cosby's 2018 criminal trial.
'She knew this could be used against her in her civil case. We decided we didn't care. Getting him criminally convicted was essential.
'We prepared her for the ugly cross-examination that would come. We flew across the country, waited day after day for her turn,' she wrote.
'I watched the other 'prior bad acts' witnesses testify magnificently. Then Janice's turn. She slayed. I was so proud of her and all the others.'
Dickinson testified that Cosby assaulted her in 1982 in Lake Tahoe when she was a 27-year-old model.
Bloom continued: 'And of course, the victim in the case, Andrea Constand, so dignified, so strong, answering every demeaning question. The conviction.
The attorney for three of the 83-year-old's alleged victims including model Janice Dickinson released a statement on Twitter saying they were 'disgusted' by the decision
Janice Dickinson (seen in 2018 at Cosby's sentencing) testified at trial that Cosby assaulted her in 1982 in Lake Tahoe when she was a 27-year-old model
'We couldn't believe it: justice, a tiny bit, finally. And now this. A kick in the gut to victims and their advocates.'
She added: 'Every day I fight for sexual assault victims and have to advise them of the ugly truth: the system still massively favors the rich and powerful. You need a superhuman level of strength and courage.
'Luckily many victims have it. Any other Cosby victims, time to come forward!'
Accuser Victoria Valentino also spoke out Wednesday, telling DailyMail.com she could 'hardly find words' to describe what she was feeling after hearing the news.
'I just heard and my stomach lurched. I'm so upset I can hardly find words,' she said.
'We had just gotten news that his parole had been denied and so we felt safe and now everything is upside down.'
Accuser Victoria Valentino (pictured left) told DailyMail.com she could 'hardly find words' to describe what she was feeling after hearing the news. Janice Baker-Kinney (right) wrote 'RAPIST #RAPIST #RAPIST' on Twitter
Valentino told Good Morning America Cosby's history of alleged abuse was 'well known' in Hollywood
Valentino told DailyMail.com she no longer feels safe knowing that the man she described as a 'serial sexual predator' was walking free after just three years behind bars.
'What is a woman's worth?' she questioned.
'A legal glitch and now a serial sexual predator is free and I don't know how any of us who have spoken so publicly can feel safe.'
Valentino was the sixteenth woman to come forward to accuse Cosby of assault.
She claimed he drugged her and a friend at a dinner in Hollywood before driving them to a nearby apartment where he sexually assaulted her in 1969.
Valentino told Good Morning America Cosby's history of alleged abuse was 'well known' in Hollywood.
'After I went public after all this stuff came down, I got so many stories from so many other people and it was well known,' she said, adding that people would be told not 'never to go to the Cosby house without eating and drinking first and never to take anything from them to eat or drink.'
Janice Baker-Kinney blasted Cosby a 'rapist' on Twitter and thanked the DA who had prosecuted him for saying his release 'is irrelevant to the facts of the crime'
Valentino described Cosby as 'a sociopath' and 'a serial rapist' who had shown 'no sense of remorse' for his crimes.
Beth Ferrier told the New York Post the decision to overturn the conviction of her alleged rapist was 'bulls**t' and warned that it sets 'a precedent.'
'It's money and power. He's so guilty of what he did. It doesn't matter, and it sets a precedent,' she said, adding she was 'floored' by the ruling.
'Is it because of power and money that he gets to do this?'
Ferrier said she was now fearful that Cosby would profit from his prison stint by writing a book and would 'become world famous again.'
She told how the 83-year-old 'took everything' from his alleged victims and needs to be 'held accountable' calling for a victims fund to be set up to pay for his crimes financially if he is not going to pay for them behind bars.
'He owes money to a victim fund. He should be held accountable,' she said, adding that he had never apologized to his victims.
Ferrier had a brief consensual relationship with Cosby for a few months in 1984 before ending things with the comedian.
She said he then drugged her coffee and raped her in an incident in Denver.
Ferrier also featured in Constand's civil suit brought against Cosby.
One of Cosby's other alleged victims repeated her own accusations of him being a rapist on Twitter Wednesday.
Janice Baker-Kinney shared an article about her alleged abuser's release and wrote: 'Bill Cosby's sex assault conviction overturned by court. #RAPIST #RAPIST #RAPIST.'
In a follow-up tweet she thanked District Attorney Kevin Steele for bringing the charges against Cosby in the first place.
'DA Kevin Steele and his office has my eternal gratitude,' she penned, alongside a statement from the DA's office where he described the overturning of Cosby's conviction as 'a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime.'
Baker-Kinney was also among Cosby's alleged victims who testified at trial, where she recounted an alleged incident in 1982 where she said she was given pills and passed out, before walking up the next day undressed next to Cosby in bed.
Another woman who said she was assaulted by Cosby in the 1980s told TMZ his release was 'disrespectful and despicable' to his victims and 'shows that women do not have the respect of men.'
Sammie Mays was working as a journalist when she said Cosby invited her to his suite for a drink in 1987.
She claimed she blacked out and woke up to find him assaulting her.
Angela Leslie, who claimed Cosby groped himself with her hand in 1992, told TMZ Wednesday's decision shows 'the justice system served the criminal, in this case, as opposed to the victims.'
Leslie said she hoped his limited time behind bars had gone some way to teaching him to be a 'better person.'
Andrea Constand (center) is the woman Cosby was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting at his Pennsylvania home in 2008
Alleged victim Beth Ferrier and Gloria Allred (left and right) in 2015. Ferrier called the decision to overturn Cosby's conviction 'bulls**t' and warned that it sets 'a precedent'
'At this point, I just hope that he took time to reflect on the pain and anguish his actions caused so many women,' she said.
'And, also puts in the work towards becoming a better person.'
Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented several of Cosby's alleged victims, described the court's decision as 'devastating' for the women.
'My heart especially goes out to those who bravely testified in both of his criminal cases,' Allred said in a statement.
'Despite the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision, this was an important fight for justice and even though the court overturned the conviction on technical grounds, it did not vindicate Bill Cosby's conduct and should not be interpreted as a statement or a finding that he did not engage in the acts of which he has been accused.'
At least 60 women accused Cosby of assault but he was only convicted at his 2018 trial of sexually assaulting one woman - Andrea Constand who said he drugged and assaulted her in 2004.
None of the other allegations could be prosecuted because Pennsylvania's statute of limitations had passed.
In Constand's case, the charges were brought just two weeks before the statute of limitations expired in 2015.
Constand first reported the incident to police in 2005.
But Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor, who went on to defend Donald Trump at his second impeachment trial, dropped the criminal case and told Constand to pursue a civil suit.
Cosby was ordered to sit for a deposition for the suit and, in it, he confessed to drugging women with Quaaludes to get them to have sex with him.
The deposition was used as evidence to charge Cosby one decade later.
Bill Cosby, 83, flashes a peace sign at news crews as he arrives home on Wednesday after having his sexual assault conviction overturned by Pennsylvania's Supreme Court
At his trial, five other alleged victims - Chelan Lasha, Janice Baker Kinney, Janice Dickinson, Lise-Lotte Lublin and Heidi Thomas - testified that he had also assaulted them.
He was convicted of sexually assaulting Constand in 2018 and sentenced to between three and 10 years behind bars.
Cosby claimed Castor had given him an 'immunity deal' and promised Cosby he wouldn't be charged.
He said that was the only reason he gave the remarks in the deposition.
There was no evidence that promise was ever put in writing.
Cosby also argued the testimony of the other women meant 'the presumption of innocence just didn't exist for him.'
The court sided with Cosby Wednesday but only on the matter of Castor's promise, saying 'we do not address Cosby's other issue.'
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court judges on Wednesday said the promise led the comedian to incriminate himself in the damning deposition.
The judges said Cosby was robbed of his fifth amendment right not to incriminate himself when he was deposed.
They said he had to be freed and cannot face prosecution on the charges again.
Cosby returned to his home Wednesday and held a press conference with his legal team.
The disgraced TV star did not speak at the briefing but one of his lawyers Brian Perry told reporters 'the system has to be fair, and fortunately the Supreme Court agreed with us.'
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