Bill Cosby Out Of Prison But Not Clear Of Prosecution; Plans To Invoke 5th Amendment

Although Bill Cosby is out of jail, he is not clear of trouble. He was released from a Pennsylvania jail but faces sexual assault charges in a Los Angeles Superior Court matter.

Cosby was accused of assaulting a victim at the Playboy Mansion in 1974. The Huth case was filed in 2014 but has been postponed for years.

Cosby was ordered to appear at a deposition for the matter and did. However, the former actor refused to answer questions, The Hollywood Reporter reported. That case was placed lower on the list of Cosby’s criminal problems.

Recently, Cosby’s case involving the sexual assault of Andrea Constand was overturned by Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court because of an old non-prosecution agreement. Cosby was released earlier this summer.

According to his attorney Michael Freedman, the comedian is contemplating going on tour and will continue to not speak on the allegations against him.

“Defendant does not agree that merely because the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated Defendant’s criminal conviction for a single offense, allegedly arising from an incident that occurred in 2004, Defendant no longer enjoys a Fifth Amendment right to remain silent,” states a status conference report made public Wednesday. “This is particularly so where numerous states have no criminal statutes of limitations for sex crimes. It is well-settled that the Fifth Amendment protects both the innocent and the guilty. Having already been forced to face a malicious criminal prosecution that resulted in an unlawful three-year incarceration, Defendant is not confident that such a risk does not still exist in this jurisdiction and others.”

Freedman also addressed the potential prosecution in Los Angeles.

“Indeed, prior to a stay being entered in this case, LAPD claimed that the Huth matter is an open criminal investigation,” continues Freedman. “Thus, Defendant anticipates that if he is forced to sit for a deposition, he will exercise his Fifth Amendment guarantees absent a court order ruling that he has no Fifth Amendment right in this jurisdiction or any others.”

Huth, the Los Angeles case plaintiff, claims she was 15 years old when Cosby allegedly assaulted her. An amended law opens the door to a viable case.

Evidently, Cosby wants to make a constitutional challenge surrounding the law. A judge is told that neither the California Supreme Court nor the United States Supreme Court has discussed the constitutionality of the amended law — presumably whether it violates due process. Given the nearly five-decade-old occurrence, Cosby’s attorney plans on making the argument that it’s legally out of bounds.