ETIENNE LAURENT/PHOTO OF THE POOL VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former film producer Harvey Weinstein is set to appear in court in Los Angeles in October 2022. The New York court overturned Weinstein’s rape conviction in 2020 and ordered a new trial.
NEW YORK – New York’s highest court today overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, overturning a landmark #MeToo-era ruling that the trial improperly allowed women to testify about allegations opposing the former movie mogul that were not part of the case. .
Weinstein, 72, will remain in prison after being convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape. But the New York resolution reopens a painful bankruptcy in America’s sex abuse record through stark figures, an era that began in 2017 with an avalanche of allegations against Weinstein.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has signaled its goal of retrying Weinstein, and his accusers would possibly be forced to tell their stories on the witness stand.
The state Court of Appeals overturned Weinstein’s 23-year criminal conviction in a 4-3 decision, finding that “the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of alleged prior sexual acts, defendants, opposed to persons other than plaintiffs in the underlying offenses. “The majority of the court characterized this as an “abuse of discretion by the judge. “
In a scathing disagreement, Judge Madeline Singas wrote that the Court of Appeals proceeded with a “disturbing tendency to overturn the jury to blame verdicts in cases involving sexual violence. “
Weinstein has been incarcerated in a New York prison since his conviction for a sex offense for forcibly performing oral sex on a film and television production assistant in 2006 and third-degree rape for assaulting an aspiring actress in 2013. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in the Los Angeles Case.
Weinstein’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, called the Court of Appeals’ ruling “a super victory for all charged felons in New York State. “
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that it would “make every effort to retry this case. “
Attorney Douglas H. Wigdor, who represented eight of Weinstein’s accusers, adding two witnesses, in the criminal trial in New York, called the ruling “a first step backwards in convicting those guilty of acts of sexual violence. “
“Courts routinely admit evidence of other uncharged acts when it helps jurors understand issues related to the defendant’s intent, modus operandi, or plan. The jury has been informed of the relevance of this testimony and overturning the verdict is tragic in the sense that it will force the sick to go through another ordeal,” Wigdor said in a statement.
Debra Katz, the civil rights and #MeToo attorney who has represented several of Weinstein’s accusers, said her clients were “exhausted” by the decision, but that she believed (and told them) that her testimony had replaced the world.
“People continue to come forward to help other victims who have come forward to report sexual assault and violence and, in fact, I think there’s no going back,” Katz said, predicting that Weinstein would be convicted again in a new trial.
He said the accusers were reassured that Weinstein would remain in prison.
The overturning of Weinstein’s conviction is the major setback for #MeToo in the past two years, after the U. S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a Pennsylvania court ruling overturning Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction.
Weinstein’s sentence lasted more than four years, hailed by activists and advocates as a milestone, but also temporarily scrutinized by his lawyers and, later, by the Court of Appeals when it heard arguments on the issue in February.
The allegations against Weinstein, the once-powerful and feared Oscar-winning studio head for films such as “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love,” marked the beginning of the #MeToo movement. Dozens of women have come forward to accuse Weinstein, adding prominent actresses such as Ashley Judd and Uma Thurman. His trial in New York drew intense publicity, with protesters chanting “rapist” outside the courthouse.
Weinstein is incarcerated in New York City at the Mohawk Correctional Center, about a hundred miles northwest of Albany.
He asserts his innocence. It affirms that all sexual activity is consensual.
Aidala argued before the appeals court in February that Burke influenced the trial by allowing three women to testify about the allegations that were part of the case and by giving prosecutors permission to confront Weinstein, if he had testified, about his long history of brutal behavior.
Aidala argued that the additional testimony went beyond the permissible main points of motive, convenience, intent, or a non-unusual plan or plan, and necessarily brought Weinstein to trial for crimes of which he was not charged.
Weinstein wanted to testify but chose not to because Burke’s resolution would have meant answering questions about more than two dozen alleged acts of misconduct dating back four decades, Aidala said. They got into a fight with his brother, a film producer, and angrily knocked over a table. , taunted the waiters and yelled at his attendants.
An attorney for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, argued that the judge’s rulings were adequate and that the additional evidence and testimony he allowed were vital in offering jurors context about Weinstein’s habit and how he interacted with women.
Appellate leader Steven Wu said Weinstein’s acquittal of the most serious charges — two counts of predatory sexual assault and one count of first-degree rape involving actress Annabella Sciorra’s rape allegations in the mid-1990s — showed jurors were attentive and not overwhelmed by additional testimony.
The Associated Press does not identify other people who allege sexual assault unless they consent to be identified; Sciorra has spoken publicly about his allegations.
The appeals court agreed last year to take up Weinstein’s case after an intermediate appeals court upheld his conviction. Prior to their decision, the lower Court of Appeal judges had expressed doubts about Burke’s conduct in their oral arguments. Burke was noted to have allowed prosecutors to collect “incredibly damaging testimony” from other witnesses.
Burke’s term expired at the end of 2022. No I am re-elected and no longer a judge.
On appeal, Weinstein’s lawyers asked for a new trial, but only on the rate of criminal sexual acts. They argued that the rape rate simply could not be retried because it is alleged conduct outside the statute of limitations.
Associated Press Dave Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut. Jocelyn Noveck and Larry Neumeister of the AP in New York also contributed to this story.