Bill Cosby released from prison: Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers claim she should be released via the same legal loophole

The legal backdoor that allowed Bill Cosby to be released from prison should also apply to Ghislaine Maxwell, her lawyers have claimed.

Bill Cosby is expected to be released from prison on Wednesday. Picture: Brendan Smialowski / AFP.

The legal backdoor that allowed Bill Cosby to be released from prison should also apply to Ghislaine Maxwell, her lawyers have claimed.

In a letter to judicial authorities, Maxwell’s legal representatives claim that an agreement disgraced late businessman Jeffrey Epstein stuck in 2007, that gave him immunity from prosecution should apply to her also, Sky News reported.

Maxwell, is accused of sex trafficking among other offences connected to her relationship to convicted paedophile Epstein.

In the letter to US District Court Judge Alison Nathan in New York City, Maxwell’s lawyers wrote that Epstein’s immunity agreement supported dismissing half the the eight count indictments against Maxwell.

Prison snapshot of Ghislaine Maxwell Picture: Bobbi Sternheim

“As in Cosby, the government is trying to renege on its agreement and prosecute Ms Maxwell over 25 years later for the exact same offenses for which she was granted immunity,” the letter read.

“This is not consistent with principles of fundamental fairness.”

Epstein struck the deal with prosecutors in Floria in exchange for pleading guilty to state prostitution charges.

However Judge Nathan has ruled that Manhattan prosecutors are not tied by the deal.

Maxwell has pleaded not guilty, and will go on trial later this year, facing a prison sentence of up to 80 years.

Epstein died in custody at a Manhattan jail in 2019, awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

COSBY DEFIANT AS ACCUSER REACTS: IT’S BULLS***’

Bill Cosby has taken to Twitter to tell the world he “always maintained my innocence”.

“Thank you to all my fans, supporters and friends who stood by me through this ordeal. Special thanks to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for upholding the rule of law,” he tweeted to his 3.2 million followers just hours after he walked free from prison.

Cosby’s release came soon after a court sensationally overturned his sex assault conviction on a technicality.

The disgraced former TV star, 83, was picked up from a Pennsylvania prison by his publicist Andrew Wyatt on Wednesday afternoon after the state’s highest court found that an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged for allegedly drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004.

“Cosby’s convictions and judgment of sentence are vacated, and he is discharged,” the Pennsylvania Supreme Court wrote in a 79-page ruling

I have never changed my stance nor my story. I have always maintained my innocence.
Thank you to all my fans, supporters and friends who stood by me through this ordeal. Special thanks to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for upholding the rule of law. #BillCosbypic.twitter.com/bxELvJWDe5

— Bill Cosby (@BillCosby) June 30, 2021

Bill Cosby flashes a "V" sign outside his house as he celebrates his release. Picture: Reuters

A woman who alleges she was raped by Cosby in 1986 fumed over the decision to overturn his sexual assault conviction Wednesday, calling it “bulls–t” and driven by “money and power.”

“It’s bulls***. I think it’s all bulls***,” Beth Ferrier, 63, told The New York Post.

“It’s money and power. He’s so guilty of what he did. It doesn’t matter, and it sets a precedent. It’s not OK.”

“Is it because of power and money that he gets to do this?” Ferrier wondered.

“I’m floored by it.”

Video footage showed Cosby flash a peace sign to cameras as he arrived home around 3.30pm local time after serving more than two years of a three to 10-year sentence.

In a statement following his client’s release, Mr Wyatt thanked the court for its decision and described the outcome as “justice for black America”.

“This is the justice Mr Cosby has been fighting for,” he said.

“They saw the light. He waived his fifth amendment right and settled out of court. He was given a deal and he had immunity. He should have never been charged.”

Bill Cosby flashed the V for Victory sign as he is released from prison. Picture: 6ABC Philadelphia

Bill Cosby looks on outside his house after Pennsylvania's highest court overturned his sexual assault conviction and ordered him released from prison immediately, in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. Picture: Reuters

Lawyer Jennifer Bonjean and Bill Cosby speak outside of Bill Cosby's home. Picture: Getty Images

Bill Cosby was found guilty of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand (pictured), a former university basketball administrator, but has now has his conviction overturned. Picture: Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP.

Cosby was emotional as he stood outside his home and listened to his lawyer speak to media. Picture: Reuters.

Protesters hold placards on the road outside Bill Cosby's house. Picture: Reuters.

The ruling bars any retrial in the case.

Charges were filed against Cosby, who was once celebrated as “America’s Dad,” in late 2015.

Although more than 60 women charged that they had been victims of sexual assault by Cosby, he was tried criminally only for Ms Constand’s assault, since the statute of limitations had expired in the other cases.

He was convicted in 2018 at his second trial, after a first trial ended in a hung jury.

He had refused to show any remorse over the encounter with the Temple University employee, vowing instead to serve all 10 years of the sentence.

The Cosby Show cast, season 3. Picture: Alan Singer.

Cosby shattered racial barriers with his Emmy-winning role on “I Spy” in the 1960s, and then as a dad and doctor on the hit TV series “The Cosby Show” two decades later.

But he suffered a fall from grace as allegations of sexual misconduct emerged against him.

His conviction was the first guilty verdict for sexual assault against a celebrity since the advent of the worldwide reckoning against sexual violence and abuse of power dubbed the #MeToo movement.

- With AFP