This gets it wrong. There was no promise. There was no immunity. Nobody in their right mind would consider a press release saying we aren't prosecuting at this time as a promise of immunity -- 1/ nytimes.com/2021/07/01/opi…
-- especially when there's a PA statute saying immunity must be court ordered.
And as you can read in the 79 page decision, Cosby did not rely on the promise because he did NOT cooperate at first with the civil depositions. The civil court intervened. There's a
And as you can read in the 79 page decision, Cosby did not rely on the promise because he did NOT cooperate at first with the civil depositions. The civil court intervened. There's a
general requirement that people getting deposed answer honestly. Which he did. That's not detrimental reliance. I also find it intellectually dishonest for this author to reference Santobello v NY as standing for the notion that
prosecutors promises pertain outside the plea context. Santobello was entirely about the negotiations made in a singular criminal case -- a guy pleaded guilty in exchange for no recommended sentence. But by the time sentencing came, the prosecutor and the defendant's
own counsel had been replaced and the new prosecutor tried to sentence him to the maximum (1 year) sentence. Santobello appealed b/c he relied to his detriment on the promise. That is entirely different from this situation where there was no promise. Only a press release by
a prosecutor saying he'd decided not to move forward with the prosecutor. The so-called detrimental reliance for Cosby was in an entirely different court case (the civil case between Bertrand and Cosby) in which the prosecutor played no role.
Let's also recognize this prosecutor's reckless courting of the press -- making a big announcement that he was investigating Cosby and then making a new press release concluding he didn't have reliable evidence, totally biasing a future jury against Bertrand after doxxing her.
Let's not act like Castor was doing her any favors. Or doing anything but protecting Cosby in all of this. Castor saying it was his intent to enrich Bertrand by issuing a press release saying he wasn't moving forward at this time in charging Cosby is INSANE.
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