The highest appeals court in the US state of New York has overturned the sexual assault conviction against former film producer Harvey Weinstein. This emerges from court documents. The decision comes as a surprise. Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison. He remains in custody because Weinstein was also sentenced to 16 years in prison for sex crimes in another trial in Los Angeles.
With a majority of one vote, the seven judges decided on Thursday that the court had committed a serious procedural error in sentencing Weinstein. Specifically, it was about women testifying as witnesses and reporting on alleged assaults by Weinstein that were not part of the actual prosecution. This served no essential purpose of the evidence and “represented the defendant in a highly prejudicial light.”
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Weinstein had appealed the verdict. Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, could now try to reopen the case against Weinstein. However, Bragg has another high-profile case on his desk right now: the hush money trial against the former US President Donald Trump.
Weinstein was found guilty of rape and sexual assault in New York in 2020. The trial marked a milestone in legal history. The allegations played a key role in triggering the #MeToo movement, which was about dealing with abuse of power in connection with sexual assault. Since 2017, more than 80 women have publicly accused Weinstein of sexual assault.
Born into a wealthy family in the New York borough of Queens in 1952, Weinstein was once a rich and powerful Hollywood mogul. With his company he produced successful films such as “The English Patient”, “Pulp Fiction”, “Good Will Hunting” and “Gangs of New York” and won an Oscar for “Shakespeare in Love”. Now he spends most of his time in a wheelchair due to health problems and could spend the rest of his life in prison.