May 14, 2024 –
New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said her chamber still has a bill that would close loopholes in the state’s sexual assault legislation that helped overturn the rape conviction of former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
In late April, the state court, the Court of Appeals, overturned Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction on technical grounds.
The justices decided that the trial had allowed opposing testimony to Weinstein that included allegations from three women about other sexual assaults that were not part of the case at hand. In a 4-3 decision, the court said allowing testimony was “an abuse of discretion to judge. “The court did not exonerate Weinstein’s behavior.
In response, Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris and Congresswoman Amy Paulin introduced a bill to admit prior sex crimes in sexual assault trials, to show the defendant’s propensity to commit the act.
“This is critical to bringing justice to survivors of sexual assault and rape in our state,” Gianaris said on May 9. “And I hope we can get there sooner rather than later, because we’ve already felt the consequences of the confusing state. “of the law as it exists today. ”
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said her Democratic members would decide whether to approve the measure before the consultation ends in early June.
“Obviously, if we manage to cross the finish line in the next couple of weeks, and we think that’s going to be helpful, we’ll do it,” Stewart-Cousins said.
But defendants’ rights groups, and the Legal Aid Society, say the bill is “too broad” and may lead to more wrongful convictions that could disproportionately harm Black and Latino New Yorkers. Stewart-Cousins, who has helped craft new legislation strengthening defendants’ rights, adding the 2019 bail reform legislation, says those considerations will also be addressed when members of her majority party meet to talk about the measure.
“People are very concerned, if there’s a loophole that allows courts to feel like there’s some flexibility in decision-making, and that we can just fill it, I think our convention is very interested in addressing that issue,” he said. .
If lawmakers pass the bill, the new law could apply only to long-running lawsuits against Weinstein. The Manhattan district attorney has announced his goal to retry the case.
Closing Weinstein’s loophole is the only measure yet to be resolved as the 2024 referendum comes to an end.
Senators passed a package of domestic violence bills, but say the New York State Assembly, also led by Democrats, has not yet settled on them.
Other issues arise with a desire to reduce plastic packaging by 50% over the next decade, expand the state’s bottle deposit law, and children’s access to social media platforms.