Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction is overturned by top New York court
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[April 26, 2024]
By Jonathan Stempel and Brendan Pierson
NEW YORK (Reuters) -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 the 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 a bitterly divided 4-3 ruling, the state 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 appeals 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 impact 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 Rome, New York.
Jurors in Manhattan convicted him in February 2020 of sexually
assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006, and raping
aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013.
The conviction included charges of first-degree sexual assault and
third-degree rape. Weinstein was acquitted on other charges.
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At a press 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 someone at the prison
handed him a piece of paper announcing the outcome.
"He just said thank you more times than I can count," Aidala said. "He's
in a horrible place, a horrible situation, but the human spirit is
strong and he's done the best he can."
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.
NEW YORK CONVICTION WAS A #METOO MILESTONE
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.
"We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain
steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault," Emily
Tuttle, a spokesperson for Bragg, said in an email.
The case was brought by Bragg's predecessor, Cyrus Vance.
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![](../images/042624PIX/news_o29.jpg)
Film producer Harvey Weinstein arrives at New York Criminal Court
for his sexual assault trial in the Manhattan borough of New York
City, New York, U.S., February 21, 2020. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File
Photo
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Bragg's office is separately in the middle of a criminal hush money
trial against former U.S. President Donald Trump.
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.
"New York's women deserve better," Singas wrote.
A California appeals court is considering whether to overturn
Weinstein's conviction there. Weinstein has denied having
non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone.
"Some thought the (Los Angeles) case to be superfluous," Elizabeth
Fegan, a lawyer for some Weinstein accusers, said in an email. "Now
we realize how important it was."
LOSING THE BATTLE, NOT THE WAR, LAWYER SAYS
Aidala said Weinstein would be ready to testify in his own defense
at a retrial in Manhattan.
"He's been dying to tell his story from Day One," he said.
Gloria Allred, a prominent 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.
Any retrial would be overseen by a different judge. Weinstein's
trial judge, James Burke, was not reappointed to the bench after his
term expired at the end of 2022.
Some states, including New York, responded to the #MeToo movement by
passing laws that let women bring civil lawsuits seeking damages for
sexual misconduct that occurred many years earlier even if statutes
of limitations had already passed.
Weinstein co-founded the Miramax film studio, whose hit movies
included "Shakespeare in Love" and "Pulp Fiction." His own eponymous
film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018.
He joins former comedian Bill Cosby among those who have had sexual
assault convictions overturned.
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Cosby's 2018 conviction was overturned three years later by
Pennsylvania's highest court. The majority said a 2005 agreement by
prosecutors not to charge Cosby with drugging and assaulting a woman
meant he should not have been charged a decade later.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, Brendan Pierson and David Bario in
New York; Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Lisa Richwine in Los
Angeles, and Doina Chiacu and Susan Heavey in Washington; editing by
Jonathan Oatis and Howard Goller)
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