NEW YORK –
The decision by New York’s highest court to overturn movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction has reopened a painful chapter in America’s scrutiny of sexual misconduct by powerful figures, an era that began in 2017 and helped launch the #MeToo movement.
Here’s what you need to know about why Weinstein’s rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next:
Why was the conviction overturned?
The New York Court of Appeals found that the judge in the rape case prejudiced Weinstein with “egregious” inappropriate rulings, including the decision to allow women to testify about allegations for which Weinstein was not charged.
In its 4-3 decision, the court majority said it was an “abuse of judicial discretion” for Judge James Burke to allow testimony from these other women about “alleged repugnant wrongdoing and despicable behavior.”
“Without a doubt, this is appalling, disgraceful and repulsive conduct that could only diminish the defendant’s character before the jury,” they said.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, had argued that Burke also influenced the trial by giving prosecutors permission to confront Weinstein, if he decided to testify, about his past history.
He said Weinstein wanted to take the stand but opted not to because he would have had to answer questions about more than two dozen alleged acts of misconduct dating back four decades, including a fight with his film producer brother, overturning a table in anger, yelling at the waiters and yelling at his assistants.
Will Weinstein be released?
Weinstein, 72, will remain imprisoned because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and sentenced to 16 years.
Weinstein has been serving time in New York, most recently at the Mohawk Correctional Facility, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Albany.
He could be taken to California to serve his sentence there, although he could be held in New York while awaiting a new trial if prosecutors decide to start one.
What is the status of the California case?
Weinstein’s lawyers are appealing the only remaining conviction: Weinstein’s guilty verdict in Los Angeles on charges of rape and sexual assault against Italian actress and model Evgeniya Chernyshova.
“A jury was told in California that he had been convicted in another state of rape… it turns out he should not have been convicted and it was not a fair conviction… It interfered with his presumption of innocence in a significant way.” in California,” said attorney Jennifer Bonjean, whose arguments freed Bill Cosby in his appeal of sexual assault convictions in Pennsylvania.
Chernyshova described in tearful testimony how Weinstein attacked her in a hotel room during a film festival in 2013. Jurors rejected another woman’s accusations and were unable to reach verdicts on two others, including those of a documentary filmmaker married to him. California Governor Gavin Newsom. .
The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they were sexually abused unless they come forward publicly as Chernyshova did, and her lawyer approved the AP’s use of her name.
Prosecutors in the California trial said in a statement Thursday that “the legal issues identified by the New York Court of Appeals are not present in the Los Angeles County case.” State law allows judge discretion in allowing witnesses to testify about a defendant’s propensity to commit a crime, they said, and they were justified in putting four of those women on the stand.
Weinstein’s lawyers will argue otherwise and suggest that Judge Lisa Lench, like her New York counterparts, went too far in allowing testimony that established a pattern of predatory behavior.
Bonjean’s appeal brief is due May 20. Lench denied an earlier motion for a new trial.
What happens next?
The Manhattan district attorney’s office isn’t giving up, meaning Weinstein’s accusers could be forced to retell their stories on the witness stand.
“We will do everything in our power to retry this case and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault,” the prosecutors’ statement said.
Weinstein maintains he is innocent of charges of criminal sexual acts involving forced oral sex on a film and television production assistant in 2006 and third-degree rape for an attack on an aspiring actress in 2013. He said any sex was consensual. .