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New York’s highest court overturned Harvey Weinstein’s conviction for sex crimes and rape and ordered a new trial for the once-powerful movie mogul, whose reported abuse of women had become a driving force behind the movement #MeToo.
Weinstein was convicted in New York in February 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He appealed the verdict, citing testimony from women who were not part of the case and who may have illegally influenced the jury.
The court, in a 4-3 decision, agreed with Weinstein on Thursday that the prosecution should not have used “prior convictions or evidence of prior commission of specific, criminal, vicious or immoral acts” to establish Weinstein’s “criminal propensity”.
She concluded that the trial judge “improperly admitted testimony about alleged, uncharged, prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes.”
The New York Court of Appeals ordered a new trial. The ruling does not affect Weinstein’s 2022 conviction for rape and other sex crimes in California, for which he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which brought the original case, said: “We will do everything in our power to retry this case and remain steadfast in our commitment to assault survivors sexual. »
Weinstein’s conviction in New York, a historic moment in the #MeToo movement aimed at holding powerful men accountable for sexual abuse and harassment against women, followed a six-week trial on five counts based on two alleged incidents: the rape of Jessica Mann, an aspiring actress. , in 2013 and forcing oral sex on Miriam Haley, a production assistant, in 2006.
A jury determined that Weinstein was guilty of two of the five criminal charges against him: committing a first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape charges. He was acquitted of the most serious charges against him: predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape.
Three women who did not press charges against Weinstein testified against him during the trial, detailing unwanted sexual advances against them by the Hollywood powerhouse actor.
The jury was told that this evidence “should not be considered for the purpose of proving that the defendant had a propensity or predisposition to commit the crimes charged.”
But the appeals court majority said the effect of their testimony “was to enhance their credibility and diminish the defendant’s standing before the jury.”
In a dissenting opinion, Court of Appeals Judge Madeline Singas said her co-legals’ decision meant that now “juries would remain in the dark about past criminal acts and defendants would be shielded from past criminal acts,” adding that “ultimately, the road has become much more difficult to hold defendants accountable for sexual assault.”