Harvey Weinstein NYC rape conviction overturned by appeals court

NEW YORK — In a bombshell ruling Thursday morning, the New York state Court of Appeals has overturned fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s Manhattan rape and sex crime conviction.

The 4-3 ruling reverses a Manhattan Supreme Court jury’s 2020 verdict that Weinstein was guilty of rape for an attack on aspiring actress Jessica Mann at the DoubleTree hotel in 2013, and criminal sex act for assaulting film assistant Miriam Haleyi at his SoHo loft in 2006.

The judges ruled that the trial court shouldn’t have allowed testimony of “uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,” then further erred by ruling Weinstein could be cross-examined on those allegations and others.

“The result of the court’s rulings, on the one hand, was to bolster their credibility and diminish defendant’s character before the jury,” Judge Jenny Rivera wrote in the majority opinion. “On the other hand, the threat of a cross-examination highlighting these untested allegations undermined defendant’s right to testify.”

“The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial,” Rivera wrote.

Weinstein’s unmasking as a sexual predator helped launch the #MeToo movement. He was also found guilty of rape and sexual assault by a Los Angeles court in 2022 and sentenced to 16 years in prison. That verdict still stands.

“We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault,” said Emily Tuttle, a spokeswoman for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.

Weinstein remained in custody Thursday morning in the Mohawk Correctional Facility in Rome, N.Y., where he was serving his 23-year sentence. A spokesman for the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said the agency is waiting for guidance from the court before releasing him.

In a blistering dissent, Judge Madeline Singas wrote that the panel fundamentally misunderstands sexual violence by men with powerful positions.

“By whitewashing the facts to conform to a he-said/she-said narrative, by ignoring evidence of defendant’s manipulation and premeditation, which clouded issues of intent, and by failing to recognize that the jury was entitled to consider defendant’s previous assaults, this Court has continued a disturbing trend of overturning juries’ guilty verdicts in cases involving sexual violence,” Singas wrote.

The majority decision “ignores the nuances of how sexual violence is perpetrated and perceived, and demonstrates the majority’s utter lack of understanding of the dynamics of sexual assault,” she wrote. “Because New York’s women deserve better, I dissent.”

The appeals court decision dismantles a legacy achievement by former Manhattan DA Cy Vance, who retired a year after the landmark conviction.

Weinstein was convicted in the Manhattan case in the same courtroom where former president Donald Trump is on trial in his historic hush money case. Trump is sitting at the same defense table where Weinstein sat in 2020.

______