Harvey Weinstein’s accusers reacted after New York’s highest court overturned his 2020 rape conviction on Thursday.
Douglas H. Wigdor, who represented two of the witnesses in the New York trial, called the court’s decision “a step backwards in holding accountable those responsible for acts of sexual violence.”
He added: “Courts routinely admit evidence of other uncharged acts when helping juries understand questions about the defendant’s modus operandi or plan.
“The jury was informed of the relevance of this testimony and the overturning of the verdict is tragic as it will force the victims to undergo yet another trial.”
Actress Katherine Kendall, another Weinstein accuser, said she was “stunned” by the decision.
Harvey Weinstein’s accusers reacted after New York’s highest court overturned his 2020 rape conviction on Thursday.
Katherine Kendall, one of Weinstein’s accusers, said she was “stunned” by the decision.
She told the New York Times it was “a terrible reminder that victims of sexual assault simply don’t get justice.”
“I’m completely disappointed in the justice system right now,” Kendall added.
The court found that the judge in the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” and inappropriate decisions, including a decision to allow women to testify about allegations that were not part of of the affair.
“We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of alleged, uncharged, prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,” the court’s 4-3 decision said. “The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.”
It is unclear whether this explosive decision will free him from prison, as he has yet another conviction in Los Angeles for another rape.
Actress Ashley Judd, who was one of the first women to publicly accuse Weinstein of rape, also spoke out Thursday against the court’s decision, calling it unfair to survivors.
“We always live in our truth. And we know what happened,” she told the New York Times.
The state appeals court’s ruling reopens a painful chapter in America’s record regarding sexual misconduct by powerful figures — an era that began in 2017 with a flood of allegations against Weinstein. His accusers could once again be forced to retell their stories on the witness stand.
Weinstein, 72, is serving a 23-year sentence in a New York prison after being convicted of criminal sexual acts for forcibly performing oral sex on a television and film production assistant in 2006 and rape in third degree for an attack on an aspiring actress in 2013.
Weinstein became the face of the #MeToo movement after dozens of women, including Jessica Mann (pictured in 2020), came forward for sexual abuse.
The New York Court of Appeals has ruled that the disgraced film producer did not receive a fair trial. Pictured: Accuser Mimi Haleyi heads to sentencing in New York in 2020
He will remain incarcerated because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Weinstein was acquitted in Los Angeles on charges involving one of the women who testified in New York.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said immediately after the ruling was handed down: “We have all worked very hard and this is a huge victory for all criminal defendants in the state of New York.”
Lawyers for the disgraced producers argued that Judge James Burke’s rulings in favor of the prosecution turned the trial into “1-800-GET-HARVEY.”
The overturning of Weinstein’s conviction is the second major setback for #MeToo in the past two years, after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a Pennsylvania court ruling rejecting Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction.
Weinstein’s conviction lasted more than four years, hailed by activists and advocates as a milestone, but dissected just as quickly by his lawyers and, later, by the appeals court when it heard arguments on the question in February.
In total, six women took the stand to deliver harrowing accounts of alleged abuse, including model Tarale Wulff, pictured during the 2020 trial.
Weinstein, pictured with ex-wife Georgina Chapman in happier times, was a titan of the film industry before sexual abuse allegations made him the face of the #MeToo movement
The allegations against Weinstein, the once powerful and feared studio chief behind Oscar-winning films like Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love, marked the start of the #MeToo movement.
Dozens of women have come forward to accuse Weinstein, including famous actresses such as Ashley Judd and Uma Thurman. His trial in New York attracted intense publicity, with protesters chanting “rapist” outside the courthouse.
Weinstein is incarcerated in New York at the Mohawk Correctional Center, about 100 miles northwest of Albany.
He maintains his innocence. He claims all sexual activity was consensual.
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