Bill Cosby struggled to sleep after his release from prison, still in disbelief that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had vacated his sexual assault conviction and ended nearly three years behind bars, his representative said Thursday.
The comedian was awake until at least 2 a.m. and got about three hours of sleep during his first night of freedom, Cosby's spokesman Andrew Wyatt told NBC News.
“I don’t want to go sleep because I am afraid this a nightmare,” Cosby said, according to Wyatt.
Pennsylvania's high court threw out Cosby's 2018 conviction on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, ruling that his due process rights had been violated.
When the state high court came through with its ruling Wednesday, Cosby was still asleep in his cell at SCI Phoenix in Collegeville and a guard told the blurry-eyed — and understandably confused — prisoner he'd soon be free.
Cosby responded, “What are you talking about?” according to Wyatt.
The man once known as "America's Dad" had collard greens and fish for dinner Wednesday night and then eggs, sausage and potatoes for breakfast.
He planned to be reunited with wife his wife Camille Cosby on Thursday and spend the next three weeks with her. It'll be the first time they've seen each other since he went to prison in September 2018, according to Wyatt.
Cosby emerged from his home in the Philadelphia suburb of Elkins Park at about 12:40 p.m. EDT.
He flashed a peace sigh with his left hand and said, "Thank you," when a supporter shouted, "Welcome home."
He didn't answer any questions as he was loaded into a Chevrolet Suburban and driven away.
Cosby was convicted of drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004, and was serving a three- to 10-year sentence. Cosby has maintained that his contact with Constand was consensual, and he has denied all other allegations of wrongdoing.
In 2005, then-Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor opted against charging the actor, "thereby allowing Cosby to be forced to testify in a subsequent civil action," according to the high court. A later prosecutor used that lawsuit testimony in court, and Cosby's own words were key in his conviction.
"Unable to invoke any right not to testify in the civil proceedings, Cosby relied upon the district attorney’s declination and proceeded to provide four sworn depositions. During those depositions, Cosby made several incriminating statements," state Supreme Court Justice David Wecht wrote in a 79-page opinion, ordering Cosby's release.
The prosecution of Cosby was one of the first major milestones of the #MeToo movement, as women came forward with their tales of unwanted sexual advances and harassment in the workplace and elsewhere.
