Wednesday, Pennsylvania's highest court overturned Bill Cosby’s indecent assault conviction, freeing the former comedian from prison after he served two years.
Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with his defense team, the 83-year-old said nothing to reporters outside his Pennsylvania home.
His spokesperson shared the moment Cosby learned his conviction was vacated.
"He just said his heart was racing. He couldn't believe it. He said they was ringing his cell. They was just knocking on the walls the inmates. And he said they said, 'look you're free, get up, get up' and he was like what are these guys talking about,” said Andrew Wyatt.
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
Cosby’s attorneys praised Wednesday's decision by Pennsylvania's Supreme Court which found Cosby’s rights were violated after he was told his testimony in a civil lawsuit filed by Andrea Constand would not be used to prosecute him in a criminal case.
“As a result of that, Mr. Cosby was forced to give four depositions in civil cases where he essentially made a variety of statements incriminating himself,” said Tom Melsheimer, a Dallas trial lawyer and former federal prosecutor.
Because of those statements, Cosby was arrested, charged and convicted of aggravated indecent assault of Constand.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Melsheimer said the case was very unusual and challenging for prosecutors.
“Very unusual because, first of all, it’s rare that cases this old are brought in the first place,” he said.
Information used to make Wednesday's decision is not new.
In fact, Melsheimer says lower courts ruled in favor of prosecutors in the past but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has the final say.
“It’s not like the court has said it didn't believe the victims or that somehow the case wasn't proven, this result was purely based on a due process argument that it just wasn't fair to prosecute Mr. Cosby under these circumstances,” Melsheimer said.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's ruling said Cosby cannot be put on trial for the same charges again.
The Montgomery County District Attorney released a statement saying, in part, "He was found guilty by a jury and now goes free on a procedural issue that is irrelevant to the facts of the crime."
