Harvey Weinstein won a legal victory on Thursday, when a New York appeals court overturned his 2020 rape conviction, and said the disgraced movie mogul should face a new trial.
The State of New York Court of Appeals ruled 4-3 that a Manhattan judge “erroneously” allowed testimony from three women whose allegations weren’t related to the case.
“We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,” read the court’s decision. “The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.”
Related Story: Harvey Weinstein Hit With Guilty Verdict in Los Angeles Rape Trial
Weinstein’s spokesperson Juda Engelmayer told ABC News, “We are happily surprised and we are studying the ruling.”
But attorney Douglas H. Wigdor, who represented eight alleged Weinstein victims, criticized the court’s decision.
“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,” Wigdor said in a statement to Urban Hollywood 411.
He continued, “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.”
Weinstein pleaded not guilty in the case. His lawyers argued that the encounters were consensual and the trial was an example of the #MeToo movement running amok.
The jury disagreed and found him guilty in February 2020 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.
Weinstein, 72, has been serving a 23-year sentence in a New York prison.
Despite the court overturning his conviction, the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love producer will not be released because he was convicted in a separate rape case in Los Angeles in December 2022.
In that case, jurors found him guilty of raping a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel room in 2013, and he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Weinstein will now be transferred to a California prison, according to ABC News.
Still, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said it plans to try him again.
“We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault,” a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement.
Weinstein has been accused of rape, sexual assault and or harassment by dozens of women, including actresses Gwyneth Paltrow, Salma Hayek and Uma Thurman.
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