A state's highest court has thrown out the sexual assault conviction of Bill Cosby.
According to NBC News, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has vacated the conviction of Cosby, clearing the way for him to leave prison. Cosby was released later Wednesday afternoon from the state prison at Phoenix, near Philadelphia.
The court based its ruling on a decision originally made by a prosecutor not to charge Cosby, which allowed the comedian to testify in a civil case that was filed against him. His testimony in that civil case was the basis of a decision by a second prosecutor to bring criminal charges.
"When an unconditional charging decision is made publicly and with the intent to induce action and reliance by the defendant, and when the defendant does so to his detriment, and in some instances upon the advice of counsel, denying the defendant the benefit of that decision is an affront to fundamental fairness, particularly when it results in a criminal prosecution that was foregone for more than a decade," read the ruling, as reported by NBC.
A jury found Cosby guilty in 2018 of three counts of aggravated indecent assault, which had occurred in 2004.
Cosby had been serving a three-to-ten year sentence in a state prison. According to NBC, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Cosby can not be re-tried on those same charges.
