The first rape conviction against Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood mogul whose sex crimes helped spark the #MeToo movement, has been overturned. More than four years after the 72-year-old was found guilty on two counts, acquitted of three other charges, and sentenced to 23 years behind bars, New York’s highest court ruled on Thursday that Weinstein was subject to “egregious errors” during trial.
According to the court, these oversights included allowing testimony from four women with allegations against Weinstein that were not part of the case at hand, as well as the trial judge’s decision to let prosecutors question the producer about uncharged accusations if he decided to testify. According to Weinstein’s legal team, as reported by The New York Times, that determination kept the defendant from testifying and “destroyed even the semblance of a fair trial.” Weinstein has maintained his innocence in all charges against him.
“We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,” the court’s 4-3 decision read. “The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.” Judge Jenny Rivera wrote on behalf of the majority, “It is an abuse of judicial discretion to permit untested allegations of nothing more than bad behavior that destroys a defendant’s character but sheds no light on their credibility as related to the criminal charges lodged against them.”
In an impassioned dissent, Judge Madeline Singas wrote that the majority was “whitewashing the facts to conform to a he-said/she-said narrative,” and said the Court of Appeals ruling perpetuates “outdated notions of sexual violence and allows predators to escape accountability.”
Jodi Kantor, who won a Pulitzer Prize alongside New York Times reporter Megan Twohey for their reporting on Weinstein’s sexual crimes, reacted to Weinstein’s overturned conviction, writing that while this “may feel like a sudden, shocking turn” that “in legal terms, his New York conviction was always controversial, and his appeals always stood a chance.” In 2022, the Court of Appeals agreed to take Weinstein’s case after an intermediate appeals court upheld his conviction.
According to Kantor, Ashley Judd, one of the most recognizable people to come forward with allegations against Weinstein, said over the phone on Thursday “that is unfair to survivors,” adding, “We still live in our truth. And we know what happened.”
In December 2022, Weinstein was found guilty of rape in his Los Angeles trial and acquitted on charges involving one of the women who testified in New York. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison, which could not be served concurrently with his New York prison sentence. Arthur Aidala, Weinstein’s lawyer, told The New York Times: “This is not just a victory for Mr. Weinstein, but for every criminal defendant in the state of New York, and we compliment the Court of Appeals for upholding the most basic principles that a criminal defendant should have in a trial.” As for Weinstein’s reaction? “This happened 10 minutes ago. He doesn’t even know yet.”
The New York Court of Appeals ruling now lands at the door of Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg—who is currently in the thick of Donald Trump’s criminal trial. A spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a statement to the Times, “We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault.” Should a retrial occur, Weinstein’s accusers may once again be forced to recount their trauma in a courtroom.
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