:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mentormedier/YJUFBXDK4EDTMLYFJKMI47BSVY.jpg "Rape verdict against Harvey Weinstein is overturned – Dagsavisen")
The appeals court says the judge was biased in the groundbreaking case in 2020, when Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
The court also believes that the judge made many mistakes, such as allowing women to testify about issues that were not part of the case. The court has ordered a new trial against Weinstein.
“In the legal system, a defendant has the right to be held responsible only for the offenses for which they are charged, and therefore accusations of previous acts shall not carry any weight if they are used only to establish a propensity for criminal acts,” the ruling states, set forth by Judge Jenny Rivera of the New York State Court of Appeals.
The judge in the original case compounded the misconduct by allowing cross-examination that portrayed Weinstein in a “grossly prejudicial light,” according to Thursday’s ruling.
– The only way to correct these gross errors is to hold a new trial, it says.
23 years in prison
The decision to overturn the rape conviction was made by four to three votes in the Court of Appeal. The court concluded that Weinstein did not receive fair treatment.
In the case in 2020, the 72-year-old film producer was convicted of rape and sexual assault against two women.
Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala speaks The New York Times that Thursday’s decision is a victory.
– We praise the Court of Appeal for safeguarding the most basic principles that a defendant must have in a trial, he says.
– Deeply unfair
A group of women who banded together to file a whistleblower case against Weinstein say the overturning of the 2020 sentence is deeply unfair.
– The news today is not only discouraging, but deeply unfair. But this ruling does not diminish the validity of our experiences or our truth, the group said in a statement.
– We shall continue to fight for justice for survivors of rape and sexual assault everywhere.
The prosecutors’ lawyer is also disappointed by the ruling.
– Today’s decision is a huge step back in the fight to make those who practice sexual violence accountable. Courts routinely accept evidence of other acts not listed as separate counts if they can help show a jury how the defendant thinks or operates. The jury was instructed on the relevance and nature of this information in the case. This reversal is tragic because it forces the victims to suffer through yet another trial, said attorney Douglas H. Wigdor, who represents eight of Weinstein’s accusers. according to CNN.
No free man
In a separate case, Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in prison in California last year for the rape of an actor in Los Angeles in 2013. This sentence has not been overturned, and the film producer therefore remains behind bars.
At the time, Weinstein was considered to be among Hollywood’s most powerful men, and the accusations against him were the starting point for the MeToo movement.
It began in 2017 with an article in The New York Times, where a number of women came forward and accused Weinstein of sexual harassment, assault and rape.
In the time that followed, women from all over the world came forward with stories of sexual abuse and abuse. As a result of divisions and whistle-blowing cases, a number of high-profile male actors, producers, business leaders and politicians had to resign from their jobs and positions.
Thursday’s sensational turnaround reopens a painful chapter in America’s reckoning with sexual abuse by powerful people. Many women may have to relive their traumas in the witness box.