The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Harvey Weinstein’s conviction for felony sex crime charges has been overturned by the New York Court of Appeals.
Weinstein was convicted in 2020 of rape and sexual assault against two women who had been pursuing a career in the film industry. In a 4-3 decision on Thursday, New York’s highest court ruled the original judge made “egregious errors” in the trial by allowing prosecutors to call witnesses whose allegations were not related to the charges at hand.
As a result, the former Hollywood producer is entitled to a new trial, the court wrote.
“The only evidence against defendant was the complainants’ testimony, and the result of the court’s rulings, on the one hand, was to bolster their credibility and diminish defendant’s character before the jury,” the decision read. “On the other hand, the threat of a cross-examination highlighting these untested allegations undermined defendant’s right to testify.”
In their appeal, Weinstein’s attorneys argued “he was judged, not on the conduct for which he was indicted, but on irrelevant, prejudicial, and untested allegations of prior bad acts.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office hopes to retry the case.
“We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault,” a spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Independent.
Weinstein is currently in a Rome, New York prison — but this decision does not mean he will walk free. The producer still faces a 16-year sentence in California after he was convicted of rape in 2022.
The former producer is not yet aware his conviction has been overturned, spokesperson Juda Engelmayer told The Independent on Thursday morning. Mr Engelmayer was “taken by surprise” by the morning’s decision, he said.
For the dissenting opinion, Judge Madeline Singas wrote the court’s decision “has continued a disturbing trend of overturning juries’ guilty verdicts in cases involving sexual violence.”
“Fundamental misunderstandings of sexual violence perpetrated by men known to, and with significant power over, the women they victimize are on full display in the majority’s opinion,” Judge Singas wrote.
The many women who came forward with allegations against Weinstein beginning in 2017 were some of the first to herald in the #MeToo movement, a viral campaign against sexual assault and rape culture. More than 100 women in Hollywood came forward against the disgraced producer, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie and Uma Thurman.
Ashley Judd, a mental health advocate and the first actress to come forward with allegations about Mr Weinstein, told The New York Times on Thursday this decision is “unfair to survivors.”
“We still live in our truth,” Ms Judd told the outlet. “And we know what happened.”
Douglas Wigdor, an attorney representing eight women who came forward against Weinstein, criticised the decision.
“Today’s decision is a major step back in holding those accountable for acts of sexual violence,” he said in a statement.
This decision comes after Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction was thrown out in Pennsylvania in 2021, allowing him to walk free. Cosby’s trial was another notable case that stemmed from women who came forward during the #MeToo movement.
More to come…
