July 2021– 

Cosby is released from prison following court’s decision to overturn conviction — 

This past month, comedian and actor Bill Cosby was released from prison after The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the indecent sexual assault conviction. Over 15 years ago, Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor declined to prosecute the case in return for Cosby’s testimony in a civil trial where he provided four sworn depositions. About a decade later, new DA Kevin Steele proceeded to prosecute the case. In 2017, the first trial ended with a hung jury. In 2018, Cosby was found guilty of sexual assault charges and sentenced to 3-10 years in state prison. He was coming up on his third year incarcerated when the state’s highest court threw out his conviction. Cosby’s release has sparked a great deal of controversy and confusion as to how such a conviction could be overturned.

Dennis McAndrews, Esq., founder of McAndrews, Mehalick, Connolly, Hulse and Ryan P.C., attended the 2017 and 2018 Cosby trials and served as a legal analyst for numerous national media outlets offering his expert opinion on the, often complicated, cases. Graham Bowley, reporter with The New York Times, has frequently interviewed Dennis in an effort to help the public better understand the legal aspects involved in such complex cases. Following Cosby’s recent release, Dennis spoke with Mr. Bowley about the unique outcome. He stated, “The most fundamental thing that struck me,” said Dennis McAndrews, a Pennsylvania lawyer and former prosecutor, “was they said the trial judge’s findings were supported by the record and they were bound by them and then they went off and made their own factual findings. It’s exceptional to see an appellate court go to such lengths to find their own facts.”

Click here to read the full article “The Cosby Ruling: Some Legal Analysts Dispute the Court’s Reasoning” by Graham Bowley in The New York Times

Click here to view “The Cosby Trial — Library of all McAndrews Law Interviews”