Harvey Weinstein rape conviction overturned
Former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has had his 2020 rape conviction overturned by the highest court in New York.
The court has reached this majority decision due to the judge allowing women to testify against Weinstein in the trial despite their allegations not relating to the case. In a 4-3 verdict, the Court of Appeals chose to overturn the prior ruling, meaning Weinstein’s case will go to a new trial, which therefore means the accusers will have to return to the stand.
“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 said. “The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.”
The majority also claimed, “it is an abuse of judicial discretion to permit untested allegations of nothing more than bad behaviour that destroys a defendant’s character but sheds no light on their credibility as related to the criminal charges lodged against them.”
In response, Judge Madeline Singas claimed the majority were “whitewashing the facts to conform to a he-said/she-said narrative.” Further condemning the Court of Appeals, Singas claimed the overturning is in line with the “disturbing trend of overturning juries’ guilty verdicts in cases involving sexual violence.”
She continued: “The majority’s determination perpetuates outdated notions of sexual violence and allows predators to escape accountability.”
Previously, Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, told the appeals court in February that Judge James Burke had prejudiced the trail by permitting three women to testify against the movie producer despite their allegations not being part of the case.
Aidala claims this is why Weinstein was unable to testify, despite wanting to, because he’d have been forced to answer questions about matters unrelated to the New York case. The lawyer stated: “We had a defendant who was begging to tell his side of the story. It’s a he said, she said case, and he’s saying ‘that’s not how it happened. Let me tell you how I did it.”
At this present time, no date has been set for the new trial.
Although Weinstein has had this conviction overturned in New York, he will remain imprisoned after being convicted of another rape in a Los Angeles court in 2022. He was sentenced to 16 years.
This is a developing story.
For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.
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