Bill Cosby released from prison after conviction overturned

Gloria Allred, an attorney who represents several of the so-called “prior bad acts” witnesses who testified against Bill Cosby, said Wednesday that while she doubted the disgraced comedian would face further criminal charges, “Mr. Cosby is not home free.”

Allred spoke to reporters at a virtual news conference hours after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled to overturn Cosby’s 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges. 

Allred said the ruling meant that a California suit against the entertainer — in which she represents a woman who claims she was assaulted by Cosby at the age of 15 — can now proceed, as both sides had agreed to pause pending the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision. 

Allred said the decision meant that Cosby was unlikely to be tried again on criminal charges, thus giving him no basis to invoke the Fifth Amendment in an upcoming civil deposition.

“I’m looking forward to taking his deposition and really getting all the answers that we seek,” Allred said. 

Asked to react to the Pennsylvania court’s ruling, Allred said she found it surprising.

“It is what it is,” she added. “In courts and in life, the only thing you can expect is the unexpected.” 

“It’s always two steps forward and one step backwards in the women’s movement,” she said.

Immediately prior to the news conference, Allred spoke to CNN during which she called the court’s decision “devastating.”

“Even though the court overturned the conviction on technical grounds,” she said, “it should not be interpreted as a statement or a finding that he didn’t engage in the acts of which he’d been accused.”