Four of the court’s seven judges voted Thursday to overturn the verdict, which relates to the rape and sexual assault of two women, a production assistant and an actress. The events occurred in 2006 and 2013.
– We have worked very hard for this and it is a huge victory for every criminal defendant in the state of New York, said Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala to the AP.
The court considers that the judge in the case committed a gross miscarriage of justice by allowing the prosecution to call witnesses who accused Weinstein of molesting them – without the allegations being part of the actual indictment. These are three women, whose testimony was part of the prosecution’s attempt to show that Weinstein repeatedly committed abuse. His attorney has argued that this influenced the jury when the verdict was reached.
According to the Court of Appeal, the film producer has thus not been given the opportunity for a fair trial.
“The answer to these serious mistakes is a new trial,” the court wrote.
It is now up to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to decide whether to retrial.
“We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and our commitment to survivors of sexual assault remains unwavering,” a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office told the New York Times.
Weinstein has served time four years of the sentence. In a separate rape case in Los Angeles, he has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. The film producer will therefore now be transferred to an institution in California to serve the latter sentence.
In 2017, the criminal charges against Weinstein became the starting point for the Metoo movement, when women around the world testified about sexual abuse they had been subjected to. When the verdict came down in 2020, it was seen as an important milestone for the movement.
Tags: Rape verdict Harvey Weinstein overturned
