Defense and prosecutors are preparing for a retrial against the once-powerful film producer in a case that marked a milestone for the #MeToo movement.
New York’s highest court has overturned disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape and sexual assault conviction, highlighting the challenges of holding powerful men accountable.
The appeals court found Thursday that the landmark trial was unfair because the judge allowed women whose allegations were not part of the case against Weinstein to testify in court.
Judge Jenny Rivera called for a new trial after the 4-3 decision.
The sentence does not affect a separate 16-year rape sentence handed down in California, meaning the 72-year-old remains behind bars.
In 2017, bombshell allegations against the Oscar-winning producer came to light and led to a flood of allegations against other powerful men as women fought back against sexual violence in the so-called #MeToo movement.
Three years later, a New York court found Weinstein guilty of sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013.
He was sentenced to 23 years in prison in a case that was considered a milestone for the #MeToo movement.
After his conviction, a civil lawsuit awarded $17 million to dozens of other women who had accused Weinstein of abuse.
Many of his accusers condemned Thursday’s decision, with actress Ashley Judd calling it “an act of institutional betrayal.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office announced that it planned to retry Weinstein.
Burning dissent
At a news conference, Weinstein’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, called the verdict “a tremendous victory for every defendant in New York state” and said Weinstein was prepared to testify in his own defense at a retrial.
“He really wanted to tell his story from day one,” Aidala said. Weinstein has maintained that all sexual activity was consensual.
Any retrial would be overseen by a different judge. The original trial judge, James Burke’s term expired at the end of 2022.
In its ruling Thursday, the state appeals court said the trial court erred by allowing “testimony about unaccused alleged prior sexual conduct” and said it would allow questions about Weinstein’s “bad behavior” if he testified would have. The producer did not represent his own defense.
In a sharp dissent, Judge Madeline Singas wrote that the court was continuing a “disturbing trend of overturning jury guilty verdicts in sexual violence cases.” She said the verdict came “at the expense and safety of women.”
In another dissent, Justice Anthony Cannataro wrote that the decision “jeopardizes decades of progress in this incredibly complex and nuanced area of law” regarding sex crimes after centuries of “deeply patriarchal and misogynistic legal tradition.”
The overturn of Weinstein’s conviction is the second major #MeToo setback in recent years.
In 2021, a Pennsylvania court overturned Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction and he was released from prison. The Supreme Court refused to take up the case.