Harvey Weinstein's felony convictions are overturned
NEW YORK >> New York's highest court on Thursday overturned the felony sex crimes conviction of notorious Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, a staggering reversal of a bedrock case in the #MeToo era that prompted countless victims of sexual harassment and assault to come forward as accusers.
In a 4-3 decision, the New York Court of Appeals found that the trial judge who had presided over Weinstein's case deprived him of a fair trial in 2020 by allowing prosecutors to call witnesses who said Weinstein had assaulted them — but whose accusations were not the basis for any of the charges against him.
Responding Thursday, the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, said he would seek to prosecute Weinstein again.
“We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault,” his office said.
The decision to overturn the conviction, while shocking to many, had been anticipated in legal circles. The criminal case against Weinstein had been viewed as fragile since the day it was filed, and prosecutors were believed to have taken risky, boundary-pushing bets to see it through. Still, the ruling was met with expressions of shock and anger by some of Weinstein's accusers.
Ashley Judd, the first actor to come forward with allegations against Weinstein, called it “unfair to survivors.”
“We still live in our truth,” Judd said Thursday. “And we know what happened.”
For all its legal implications in New York, the decision's impact on Weinstein, 72, who is being held in an upstate prison in Rome, New York, might amount to little more than a change of scenery. Weinstein, who was also convicted of rape and sexual assault in a separate case brought by prosecutors in Los Angeles, could be transferred to California to begin a 16year prison sentence there.
But for now, he will be taken to a facility closer to New York City in preparation for a new trial, said his lawyer, Arthur Aidala.
Weinstein had been a sharp-elbowed titan in the film industry, rising to power in the 1990s behind a stream of critically lauded, blockbuster movies under the Miramax label. His downfall after lurid accusations emerged from dozens of actresses and former colleagues became a primer for how the world viewed and treated many once-powerful men who used their positions for sex.
Weinstein was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 100 women; in New York he was convicted of assaulting two of them. Thursday's decision did not discount the credibility of the accusations against him. Rather, it found fault with the admission of the testimony of women whose descriptions of abuse fell outside the criminal case.