Harvey Weinstein rape conviction overturned by NY appeals court
A New York appeals court overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction Thursday, ordering a new trial in a stunning reversal of a landmark #MeToo case.
In a 4-3 decision, the appeals court found that Weinstein's trial judge allowed prosecutors to call women who said Weinstein had assaulted them to testify, even though their accusations did not specifically relate to the entertainment mogul's charges.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being convicted in February 2020 of forcing oral sex on TV and film production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006 and third-degree rape of hairstylist Jessica Mann in 2013.
He was acquitted of first-degree rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault from actor Annabella Sciorra’s allegations of rape in the 1990s. He has denied ever engaging in non-consensual sex.
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"Justice was served. I believe this decision is larger than Harvey Weinstein," Donna Rotunno, Weinstein's defense lawyer, told Fox News in a statement. "Courts cannot operate on emotion and lack of due process. The world is off-balance, and when the justice system does not work, nothing does. This decision restores faith in the foundation of our system."
Ashley Judd, the first actress to come forward with allegations against Weinstein, reacted to the appeal court's decision during a press conference Thursday.
"I went on the record telling [my] story because when survivors tell their stories, they are exercising a powerful form of leadership that sparks others to join in shared action that catalyzes change," she told reporters.
"This today is an act of institutional betrayal," Judd explained. "And our institutions betray survivors of male sexual violence. And we need to work within and without the systems to start having what is known as institutional courage. I stand shoulder to shoulder with women who have bloody knees because male sexual violence may knock us down, but we get right back up and together we are in the struggle for freedom from male entitlement to our bodies."
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Weinstein, a former film producer, was known for his influential career in Hollywood before his widely publicized fall from grace. He is the co-founder of Miramax and later The Weinstein Company, both of which have produced many commercially successful films and won accolades from the Academy Awards.
Weinstein was one of the biggest first figures in the #MeToo movement after being accused of sexual assault and rape by more than 80 women.
Even though the New York appeals court overturned Weinstein’s conviction, that does not mean he is getting out of prison.
After Weinstein's sentencing in New York in 2020, he was extradited to California in July 2021 to face sexual assault allegations made by four women in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills between 2004 and 2013.
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In December 2022, he was found guilty of rape, forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count involving a woman known as Jane Doe 1. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in February 2023. Weinstein's legal team has vowed to appeal that conviction as well.
Weinstein also faces charges in London for two alleged offenses in 1996.
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In January 2023, Weinstein's lawyer, Arthur Aidala, filed an appeal for a new trial, arguing Weinstein did not receive a "fair trial" in New York due to "legally insufficient charges."
"Harvey is innocent and never should have been convicted or even tried for these allegations," Weinstein's rep, Juda Engelmayer, told Fox News Digital at the time. "The trial failed at objectivity from the minute former Judge Burke berated Harvey, asking him if he wanted to spend the rest of his life in prison over the use of a cellphone that occurred before the judge ever entered the courtroom or began the day's proceedings.
"Burke was rejected from the bench as a result, and the case should have been too. From the lies a juror told to private lawyers representing non-case-related complainants acting as prosecutorial surrogates, as we were often gagged, the jury was steered in a direction they never would have gone in if it were honest."
Fox News Digital's Tracy Wright contributed to this report.