NY court overturns Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction
NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for sexual assault and rape was overturned by New York’s highest court, reopening the landmark case that fueled the #MeToo movement and highlighting the challenges of holding powerful men accountable.
Many accusers of the former Hollywood movie mogul condemned Thursday’s decision, with actress Ashley Judd telling reporters it was “an act of institutional betrayal”.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg signaled it planned to retry Weinstein.
In its 4-3 ruling, the Court of Appeals said the trial judge made a critical mistake by letting women testify that Weinstein assaulted them, even though their accusations were not part of the charges he faced.
The court said the trial judge compounded the error by ruling that if Weinstein took the witness stand, prosecutors could question him on a wide range of “loathsome” conduct, including bullying and fits of anger toward associates.
It said the ruling had an effect on Weinstein’s decision not to testify in his own defense, undermining a fact-finding process that turned on the parties’ credibility.
“The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial,” Judge Jenny Rivera wrote for the majority.
Weinstein, 72, has been serving a 23-year sentence in a prison in upstate New York.
Jurors in Manhattan convicted him in 2020 of sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006, and raping former actress Jessica Mann in 2013.
The conviction included charges of first-degree sexual assault and third-degree rape. Weinstein was acquitted on other charges.
At a news conference, Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala called the decision “a great day for America”.
Aidala said Weinstein expressed relief when they spoke about the decision, which Weinstein learned about when handed a piece of paper announcing the outcome.
“He just said ‘thank you’ more times than I can count,” Aidala said.
Weinstein is not expected to be freed immediately, as he faces a separate 16-year prison term imposed last year in California after he was convicted for the 2013 rape of an actress at a Los Angeles hotel. That conviction still stands.
Weinstein’s New York conviction had been considered a milestone for the #MeToo movement, in which women accused hundreds of men in entertainment, media, politics and other fields of sexual misconduct.
Judge Madeline Singas dissented from Thursday’s decision, saying the majority opinion “perpetuates outdated notions of sexual violence” and makes holding defendants accountable for sexual assault “significantly more difficult”.
She also accused the majority of whitewashing the facts and continuing what she called a “disturbing trend” of overturning jury verdicts in sexual violence cases.
“Forgotten are the women who bear the psychological trauma of sexual violence and the scars of testifying again, and again,” she said. “New York’s women deserve better.”
Gloria Allred, a women’s rights lawyer who represents Haley, said her client told her after the decision she would consider testifying again.
“Although victims have lost this battle, they have not lost the war,” Allred said.