Embattled media mogul Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction has been overturned by a New York appeals court.
The Hollywood producer's conviction was overturned Thursday after the court found that the judge for the original trial handed down improper rulings. The seminal case helped galvanize the #MeToo movement, gaining momentum as allegations of sexual assault and rape surfaced in a series of bombshell 2017 reports and causing a reckoning for Weinstein's power player peers in the entertainment industry.
The 2020 rape conviction led to a 23-year prison sentence for Weinstein. In Thursday's 4-3 decision, the New York court ordered a new trial for Weinstein, who is also serving a 16-year sentence for a 2022 conviction in California for rape. He also faces a 15-year sentence in California, where he will serve time.
Look back at Weinstein's Hollywood rise and fall from Oscar-winning Hollywood power player to prisoner.
Live updates:Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by New York appeals court
In October 2017, The New York Times and the New Yorker published bombshell reports with detailed accounts of sexual assault and rape at the hands of Weinstein, a movie mogul with a prolific list of credits to his name, including "Pulp Fiction," "The English Patient," "Good Will Hunting," "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Django Unchained."
Later, more women came forward including two accusers who said his sexual assault dated back to the 1970s. Actress Cynthia Burr of "Scarface" and the first two "Lethal Weapon" films said she was forced to perform oral sex on industry "up and comer" Weinstein, who was in his mid-20s. Another woman, Hope Exiner d’Amore, said Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex and intercourse on her after he had them share a hotel room while she worked for his concert promotion company in Buffalo.
Other Weinstein accusers include Kate Beckinsale; Rose McGowan; Cara Delevigne; Ashley Judd; Asia Argento; Rosanna Arquette; Heather Graham; Salma Hayek; Angelina Jolie; Minka Kelly; Lupita Nyong'o; Gwyneth Paltrow; and Mira Sorvino, as well as dozens of other former actresses and women in the entertainment industry.
In May 2018, Weinstein surrendered to New York City police and was arraigned in court on charges of rape, criminal sex act, sex abuse and sexual misconduct. He did not enter a plea but posted a $1 million bail, gave up his passport and agreed to wear an electronic monitoring device. His travel was restricted to New York state and Connecticut.
During the New York trial, each of his six accusers testified, sometimes for hours, and cried often as they recounted in graphic detail what they said Weinstein did to them, described the appearance of his body and genitals, his intimidating bulk and trigger temper.
Weinstein denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex since media reports first published in October 2017. He has been accused by more than 80 women of sexual misconduct, ranging from harassment to rape, over decades and in multiple jurisdictions around the world. He pleaded not guilty in the trial.
Besides the two accusers whose allegations were central to the case, Weinstein's trial also featured testimony from four other accusers, known as Molineux witness or prior bad act witnesses, who testified that Weinstein sexually assaulted them in New York or California as far back as 1993 and as recently as 2013.
Weinstein was convicted of two sex crimes after a historic weekslong trial in February 2020 featuring graphic testimony from six tearful accusers. A jury found Weinstein guilty of criminal sexual act in the first degree related to accuser Miriam "Mimi" Haley and rape in the third degree related to accuser Jessica Mann.
Weinstein's mouth was agape as the verdict was read, and his defense attorney Donna Rotunno shook her head.
Weinstein was immediately handcuffed and taken into custody. Following his sentencing, the staff at Rikers Island sent Weinstein back to Bellevue Hospital on New York City's East Side because he was dealing with "chest pains."
Harvey Weinstein convicted again:The biggest revelations so far from his second trial in LA
In November 2020, the convicted sex offender fell ill with a fever in prison.
His rep, Juda Engelmayer, told USA TODAY that Weinstein was "being closely monitored" and Engelmayer would "neither confirm nor deny that Mr. Weinstein has tested positive for COVID-19." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists a fever as a common symptom of the highly contagious virus. Weinstein was reportedly diagnosed with COVID in March 2021, according to law enforcement officials.
In June 2022, Weinstein's New York sex-crimes conviction was upheld unanimously by a five-member state appellate court that concluded his 2020 trial in Manhattan was fair, despite his lawyers' argument that prosecutors offered the jury potentially prejudicial testimony from accusers of uncharged crimes, known as Molineux witnesses.
"We reject defendant’s arguments, and affirm the conviction in all respects," the 45-page decision said.
The ruling was notable because some members of the panel during a December hearing questioned the role prejudicial evidence played in the Weinstein trial, appearing open to possibly reversing his conviction on two sex crimes and ordering a new trial.
Previous reporting:Harvey Weinstein's NY sex-crimes conviction upheld by state appeals court
In October 2022, Weinstein's second criminal trial was well underway in Los Angeles, with intense testimony from accusers on the 11 sex crime charges he faced.
The trial included testimony from Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who nearly screamed through tears from the witness stand on Nov. 14 when she told the court Weinstein raped her in a hotel room and spoke of the devastating effect it had on her in the 17 years since.
Newsom detailed how she was directed to go to a hotel suite with Weinstein and, when asked by Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez why she didn’t walk away, she said, "because you don’t say no to Harvey Weinstein.”
“He could make or ruin your career,” she added.
In December 2022, a jury found Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault in his second criminal trial. The then-70-year-old former movie mogul was already nearly three years into a 23-year sentence for a rape and sexual assault conviction in New York. During his Los Angeles trial, Weinstein faced up to 18 additional years in prison.
Last February, a judge sentenced Harvey Weinstein to 16 years in prison in his Los Angeles criminal trial.
Weinstein spoke directly to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench, saying: "I maintain that I’m innocent. I never raped or sexually assaulted Jane Doe 1." The woman who accused Weinstein was convicted of raping sobbed in the courtroom as he spoke.
A New York appeals court overturned embattled Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction on Thursday, after finding that the judge for the trial, Judge James Burke, admitted testimony from women with allegations that were not a part of the case, but rather "irrelevant, prejudicial, and untested allegations of prior bad acts."
The three dissenting judges called the overturn of Weinstein's conviction a "whitewashing of the facts" to fit a "he-said/she-said narrative."
Contributing: Maria Puente, Jayme Deerwester, Taijuan Moorman, Cydney Henderson, Hannah Yasharoff, Patrick Ryan
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