May 16, 2024
A state appeals court’s ruling to overturn the conviction of Harvey Weinstein, the movie mogul whose conviction marked a milestone in the #MeToo movement, is sparking a legislative backlash from the state.
The New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest appeals court, ruled in late April that the trial in the Weinstein case improperly allowed women to testify about allegations that were not part of the criminal charges.
Sen. Michael Gianaris, D-Astoria and deputy Senate majority leader, and Rep. Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, introduced A. 4992/S. 9276 authorizing courts to admit similar conduct in sexual assault and rape cases.
“New York State law will have to help survivors of sexual assault and their ability to seek justice,” Paulin said at a recent press conference with Gianaris and the bill’s aides. “Trials for sexual crimes depend on the testimony of the survivor, whose credibility is then questioned. For this reason, patterns of behavior will have to be admitted as evidence. Survivors of sexual assault have experienced enough trauma. Now that the Weinstein case has been overturned, it is more vital than ever to pass this bill. »
Unlike peak states, New York has a legal code of evidence. Most of New York State’s evidentiary regulations are derived from case law, and a limited number of regulations are contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure. Many states have followed the Federal Code’s Rules of Evidence, one of which states that in an offender case in which a defendant is charged
of a sexual assault, the court would likely admit evidence that the defendant has committed any other sexual assault in the past.
In 2020, Weinstein was convicted in New York City of criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree. Weinstein’s trial allowed evidence of his prior sexual assault to be admitted under a doctrine known as the Molineux Rule that was in a previous Court of Appeals case. At the time, according to the legislative rationale compiled through Paulin and Gianaris, Weinstein’s defense team had unsuccessfully filed an appeal, arguing that such evidence never deserved to have been allowed. This resolution was revoked later this year.
Weinstein, 72, has denied the allegations made in New York. She accused him of raping an aspiring actor in 2013 and sexually assaulting a production assistant in 2006. His conviction in 2020 marked a key moment in the #MeToo movement, an awareness of sexual misconduct in American society.
New York prosecutors are due to retry Weinstein in September. He was also convicted of rape in California and sentenced to 16 years in prison. He has been incarcerated in New York lately.
“Victims of sexual assault deserve to be provided with their reports when their abuser is charged with a new sex crime,” Gianaris said. “This proposal would help brave survivors tell their stories and align New York with federal evidence regulations. “
According to the Associated Press, Paulin and Gianaris’ proposed law prompted an initial complaint from the Legal Aid Society. Amanda Jack, the group’s policy director, said the proposal is too broad and “will publicize the disturbing assumption that defendants have an obvious propensity to engage in the crime at trial if they have committed a crime in the past. “
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