Harvey Weinstein will remain in prison following a New York Court of Appeals decision on Thursday that overturned the former film producer's 2020 rape conviction.
Weinstein, 72, has been serving a 23-year prison sentence in Mohawk Correctional Facility since he was convicted on criminal sex act charges. He was found guilty of forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actress in 2013.
New York state's highest court overturned the conviction after ruling that Judge James Burke, who presided over Weinstein's trial, was prejudiced in certain decisions made throughout the trial, such as allowing women to testify who weren't involved with the case and refusing to remove a juror who had written a novel involving predatory older men, the Associated Press reported.
Weinstein will remain in prison since he was convicted of rape in Los Angeles and sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2022. The former movie mogul, who is also appealing the Los Angeles conviction, maintains his innocence and insists that any sexual acts committed were consensual.
In a 4-3 decision, the New York Court of Appeals said the trial court "erroneously" allowed women to testify against Weinstein despite his not being charged with the alleged sexual acts against those specific women.
"The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial," the ruling said.
Newsweek reached out to Weinstein's attorney Arthur Aidala by email for comment
Following the ruling, the survivors released a joint statement.
"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," they told Newsweek in the statement.
"The man found guilty continues to serve time in a California prison. 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," the statement said.
Weinstein's case came before the Court of Appeals after an intermediate appeals court upheld his conviction, a decision touted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
In addition to allowing women not involved with the trial to testify, Aidala argued, Burke swayed the trial by permitting prosecutors to question Weinstein about behavioral misconduct going back years. Burke's ruling ultimately resulted in Weinstein deciding not to testify.
"We had a defendant who was begging to tell his side of the story. It's a he said, she said case, and he's saying, 'That's not how it happened. Let me tell you how I did it,'" Aidala said, according to the AP.
Presenting Weinstein's misbehavior to the jury "had nothing to do with truth and veracity. It was all 'he's a bad guy,'" the lawyer added.
Weinstein returned to New York to serve his sentence at Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome after being extradited to California in 2021 for the 2022 trial. Before the California trial, Weinstein was imprisoned at Wende Correctional Facility, near Buffalo.
It is unclear if Weinstein will return to California to serve his 2022 sentence or when the new trial will begin.
Update 4/25/24, 10:27 a.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information and background.
Update 4/25/24, 11:18 a.m. ET: This story was updated with a joint statement from the survivors.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
