“The remedy for the egregious errors is a new trial.”
In a surprising turn of events, the New York Court of Appeals overturned a previous decision on the rape and sexual assault case filed against disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein in 2020, amid the height of the #MeToo Movement.
The producer was also found guilty of rape in 2022 in Los Angeles.
The court, in a 4-3 decision, remarked, “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 panel of judges argued that trial judge James Burke made a serious error in allowing women who were not involved in the complaint to testify against him.
Authored by Judge Rivera, the said testimony equated to propensity of evidence,”
It thus “served no material non-propensity purpose” and “portrayed defendant in a highly prejudicial light.”
Rivera further stated, “Under our system of justice, the accused has a right to be held to account only for the crime charged, and, thus, allegations of prior bad acts may not be admitted against them for the sole purpose of establishing their propensity for criminality.”
“At trial, a defendant stands to account for the crimes as charged. Proof of prior crimes and uncharged bad acts are the rare exception to this fundamental rule of criminal law.”
Juda Engelmayer, Weinstein’s spokesperson, said they are “cautiously excited” about the ruling. However, they are fully aware that Weinstein “still has a long road ahead of him.”
Weinstein’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, said that this was “not just a victory for Mr. Weinstein, but for every criminal defendant in the state of New York, and we compliment the Court of Appeals for upholding the most basic principles that a criminal defendant should have in a trial.”
Meanwhile, Weinstein and his legal team intend to appeal his California conviction next month, according to his lawyer, Jennifer Bonjean.
Bonjean notes that Thursday’s decision will support his appeal in Los Angeles.
“The New York decision relates to the excessive use of other accusers, and the concept of uncharged accusers and bad acts is equally applicable in the Los Angeles case,” Ms. Bonjean said.
For the charges against him in Los Angeles, prosecutors allowed 44 witnesses to testify against him despite their accounts being unrelated to the complaint.
“They were overwhelmed with this bad character evidence that was not legitimate and tainted the whole trial in California from our perspective,” Ms. Bonjean said of the jurors in that case.
As the judge handed down his verdict, Weinstein asked the presiding judge for leniency.
“I tried all my life to bring happiness to people,” Mr. Weinstein pleads. “Please don’t sentence me to life in prison. I don’t deserve it.”
Despite the recent update on his rape case, Weinstein will remain behind bars because he was convicted of rape and sexual assault in 2022 in a separate case in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to serve 16 years for those crimes.
Meanwhile, members of the #MeToo movement described the decision as “profoundly unjust” in a statement, noting, “This ruling does not diminish the validity of our experiences or our truth; it’s merely a setback.
