WEINSTEIN CONVICTION UPHELD ON APPEAL
A New York appeals court on Thursday upheld Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction and 23-year prison sentence, rejecting the former movie mogul’s claim that the judge at his landmark #MeToo trial unfairly allowed women to testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
The ruling by a five-judge panel in the state’s intermediate appeals court affirmed one of the highest-profile verdicts to date in America’s reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful figures — an era that began with a flood of allegations against
Weinstein.
Weinstein’s publicist, Juda Engelmayer, said he is reviewing his options and will seek to appeal the decision to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.
“We are disappointed, but not surprised,” Engelmayer said. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who took office in January while Weinstein’s appeal was pending, said in a statement that prosecutors were “gratified by today’s decision, which upholds a monumental conviction that changed the way prosecutors and courts approach complex prosecutions of sexual predators.”
Weinstein, 70, was convicted in New York in February 2020 of forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant, Mimi Haley, in 2006 and raping an aspiring actress in 2013.
He was acquitted of firstdegree rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault stemming from actor Annabella Sciorra’s allegations of a mid-1990s rape.
The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named; Sciorra has spoken publicly about her allegations, and Haley has agreed to be named.
Weinstein is jailed in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles, where he was extradited last year and is awaiting trial on charges he assaulted five women in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills from 2004 to 2013.
Lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents Haley, Sciorra and another witness, said that she was “thrilled” Weinstein’s conviction was upheld.
“Justice was done,” Allred said. “But now I am also looking forward to the criminal prosecution of Mr. Weinstein in Los Angeles, where I also represent alleged victims for whom charges have been filed.”
Former District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who oversaw Weinstein’s prosecution, told The Associated Press he has always had confidence in the strength of the case. He said he was confident that trial judge James Burke’s rulings were fair and would be sustained on appeal.