The state of New York Court of Appeals overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction on Thursday.
They ruled that the judge who oversaw Weinstein’s 2020 conviction made a crucial mistake in allowing the testimonies of other women whose accusations were not a part of the 2020 case, according to The Associated Press. The judgment was overturned by a single vote, according to The New York Times.
Harvey Weinstein and attorney Benjamin Brafman exit State Supreme Court, June 5, 2018 in New York City. Weinstein pleaded not guilty on two counts of rape and one count of a criminal sexual act. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images
The court found the judge to be prejudiced, thereby compromising the integrity of the case as a whole.
“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,” the court said as part of their 4-3 decision, according to The Associated Press.
Former film producer Harvey Weinstein listens in court during a pre-trial hearing for Weinstein, who was extradited from New York to Los Angeles to face sex-related charges at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on July 29, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.Photo by Etienne Laurent-Pool/Getty Images
Harvey Weinstein poses during a photocall as he arrives to attend the De Grisogono Party on the sidelines of the 70th Cannes Film Festival. Photo by Yann COATSALIOU AFP via Getty Images
The next steps were laid out immediately.
“The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial,” they said.
The court noted, “It is an abuse of judicial discretion to permit untested allegations of nothing more than bad behavior that destroys a defendant’s character but sheds no light on their credibility as related to the criminal charges lodged against them,” according to the Associated Press.
This decision reopens the conversations that sparked the #MeTooMovement of 2017 and could mean that Weinstein’s accusers could be forced to re-live their experience on the witness stand once more.
Harvey Weinstein leaves New York City Criminal Court after a bail hearing on December 6, 2019 in New York City. Scott Heins/Getty Images
Ashley Judd was among the first to comment on the new ruling.
“That’s really hard for the survivors … We still live in our truth. And we know what happened” she said, according to The New York Times.
Weinstein will remain behind bars in spite of the 2020 charges being overturned, because he was convicted of another rape in Los Angeles in 2022, and is serving a 16-year sentence in prison in correlation with that charge, according to The Guardian.
