Bill Cosby filing to recoup ‘hundreds of thousands’ of dollars for wrongful incarceration, publicist says
Bill Cosby’s legal team is reportedly exploring a countersuit against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for what they believe was a “wrongful incarceration” after the embattled performer served two years of a three- to-10-year sentence for sexual assault.
Last week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out the 83-year-old actor’s conviction after finding that District Attorney Kevin Steele, the prosecutor who brought the case against Cosby, violated an agreement to not charge him. It was a deal that previous District Attorney Bruce Castor had made in 2005, though it had apparently never been put in writing.
“We are looking at all legal angles for those things right now,” Cosby’s spokesperson, Andrew Wyatt said Friday during an appearance on “The Domenick Nati Show” when the topic was raised of potential state compensation for the disgraced comic.
“We are looking at what recourse, what legal recourse we can take against the state of Pennsylvania.”
“Isn’t he owed money for every day that he’s in jail or am I wrong?” Nati asked Wyatt, to which the Cosby representative pressed, “He’s owed money. It’s a lot of owed money.”
“Our attorneys are filing the paperwork now,” he added. “[Cosby] is owed a lot of money.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf included in a recent 2021-22 budget plan a proposal that would pay those who were wrongly convicted $50,000 for each year that they were held behind bars.
Per the plan, the funds would be doled out to exonerees who have had convictions overturned on the grounds that they were innocent of the crime accused. The new program could also apply to inmates who have had their convictions overturned and subsequent charges dropped, or to those who were acquitted in a new trial.
