Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will "do everything" to retry Harvey Weinstein after his 2020 rape conviction was overturned on Thursday by a New York appeals court.
"We will do everything in our power to retry this case and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault," a spokesperson for Bragg's office told Newsweek via email.
On Thursday, the New York Court of Appeals decided to overturn the rape conviction against Weinstein, a former movie producer. The state's highest court found that the judge overseeing the case made improper rulings, such as allowing a woman to testify against Weinstein about allegations not a part of his case, the Associated Press reported.
In a 4-3 decision, the appeals court said the trial judge "erroneously" allowed women to testify against Weinstein despite his not being charged with the alleged sexual acts against those women.
In February 2020, Weinstein was found guilty in New York of rape in the third degree and a criminal sexual act in the first degree and sentenced to 23 years in prison. In December 2022, he was convicted of rape and other sexual assault charges in a separate Los Angeles case and sentenced to 16 years.
Despite the appeals court ruling in New York, Weinstein will remain in prison because of his conviction in the Los Angeles case.
Barbara McQuade, a legal analyst and former U.S. attorney, told Newsweek that she expects Bragg to retry the New York case.
"The case was overturned for procedural reasons, not a lack of evidence of guilt," she said Thursday.
However, Dave Aronberg, the state attorney for Florida's Palm Beach County, told Newsweek that Bragg's office will likely "speak to the victims and base his decision on their wishes" in regard to a possible retrial.
"If they are willing to go through the trauma of reliving their experiences on the stand again, then I expect a retrial to occur," Aronberg said.
Weinstein is imprisoned in the Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome, New York. In 2021, he was extradited to California for the 2022 trial in the Los Angeles case.
Weinstein's lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said, "We all worked very hard, and this is a tremendous victory for every criminal defendant in the state of New York," according to the AP.
Newsweek has reached out to Aidala via email for comment.
In a statement, attorney Douglas Wigdor, who represents eight Weinstein accusers, including two witnesses at the New York trial, told Newsweek, "Today's decision is a major step back in holding those accountable for acts of sexual violence. Courts routinely admit evidence of other uncharged acts where they assist juries in understanding issues concerning the intent, modus operandi or scheme of the defendant."
The statement added: "The jury was instructed on the relevance of this testimony and overturning the verdict is tragic in that it will require the victims to endure yet another trial."
In a statement, the Silence Breakers, a group of Weinstein accusers, told Newsweek: "The news today is not only disheartening, but it's profoundly unjust. But this ruling does not diminish the validity of our experiences or our truth; it's merely a setback. The man found guilty continues to serve time in a California prison."
The statement continued: "When survivors everywhere broke their silence in 2017, the world changed. We continue to stand strong and advocate for that change. We will continue to fight for justice for survivors everywhere."
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
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