The court overturned the sentence against ex-producer Weinstein. The process will repeat

Weinstein’s case became a symbol of the Me Too movement, which a few years ago drew attention to the occurrence of sexual harassment and violence not only in Hollywood. One of the impulses was in the fall of 2017, The New York Times (NYT) found out about the complaints of several women against the influential producer, who was then tried for rape and other acts. The same paper describes today’s development of the case as a stunning twist.

The state supreme court decided to overturn the sentence by a vote of four to three. He justified the decision by the fact that the first-instance judge had allowed prosecutors to present the testimony of women who claimed that Weinstein had abused them, even though these cases did not directly relate to the allegations against him, Reuters wrote.

The appeals court also said the judge compounded the error by letting prosecutors use these and other additional statements in questioning the defendant, which painted Weinstein in a “highly damaging” light, according to today’s verdict. “A new trial will remedy these serious errors,” the court said.

New punishment for Weinstein. He will serve another 16 years in prison for rape

According to the NYT, however, it is not entirely certain that the new process will happen. Now it will be up to the head of the Manhattan prosecutor’s office, Alvin Bragg, whether he wants to bring the charges again, the newspaper writes. In its initial response, the prosecutor’s office said it would do everything in its power to hold a new trial.

Court of Appeal member Madeline Singasová, who was in the minority with two other colleagues, strongly opposed today’s decision. According to her, “the disturbing trend of overturning guilty verdicts by juries in cases involving sexual violence” continues.

The Silence Breakers group, which unites women who have accused Weinstein of harassment or assault, also criticized the verdict as “deeply unfair”. However, according to attorney Debra Katz, who has represented several such women, her clients are very happy that Weistein will remain behind bars.

Until now, he was in prison in upstate New York and, according to the media, he was expected to be transferred to a correctional facility in California, where he will serve his second sentence. In late 2022, a California jury found Weinstein guilty of raping and sexually assaulting the actress in 2013, while pleading not guilty to several other counts. Last February, the ex-producer was sentenced to 16 years in prison, with the sentence to begin after serving the New York one.

The second major twist

Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala called the overturning of the first verdict a huge victory for “all defendants in the state of New York,” writes the AP agency. In an interview with the NYT, the Supreme Court praised it for protecting “the most basic principles that the defendant should have in the process.”

Weinstein was convicted of another rape. He will spend the rest of his life in prison

“Courts routinely admit evidence of other acts that are not at the heart of the charge when it helps jurors understand questions surrounding the defendant’s intent, modus operandi or conduct,” responded attorney Douglas Wigdor, who represented eight of Weinstein’s alleged victims. “The jury was instructed on the relevance of these statements and the overturning of the verdict is a tragedy,” he added.

The AP noted that this is the second major twist involving leading actors in the Me Too case in the past two years. In 2022, the US Supreme Court refused to accept an appeal of a ruling that overturned actor Bill Cosby’s conviction for sexual assault.