By JULIE CUNNINGHAM
(National) The sexual assault conviction of Bill Cosby has been overturned by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The highest court said that testimony from other accusers permitted at the retrail to show a pattern of drugging and molesting women tainted the trial. The justices noted an increased trend of allowing testimony that crossed the line into character attacks. The District Attorney has not yet indicated whether an appeal will be sought or if Cosby will be tried for a third time.
Cosby was charged in 2015 when new evidence of the alleged assault came to light. The new evidence, which was a damaging deposition from a lawsuit filed by the victim, allowed prosecutors to arrest him just 12 days before the statute of limitations ran out. A deadlocked jury in the first trial lead to a re-trial of the case, where five other accusers were permitted to testify in support of the prosecution. Prosecutors argued that Cosby used his status as a family man to hold himself out as trustworthy to manipulate alleged victims.