A New York appeals court on Thursday upheld Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for felony sexual offenses, increasing the likelihood of the disgraced filmmaker serving a significant portion of his 23-year sentence.
Since last summer, Mr. Weinstein, 70, has been awaiting trial in Los Angeles, where he has been charged with several counts of forced rape and forced oral intercourse, as well as other charges related to sex offenses. A trial date is expected to be set this month.
The state’s legal community had been eagerly awaiting New York’s decision, especially after the oral arguments in December, when members of the five-judge tribunal that heard the case appeared skeptical about some decisions made by the trial judge.
But Thursday’s decision was unanimous and clear.
“We reject the defendant’s arguments and affirm the conviction in all respects,” wrote Judge Angela M. Mazzarelli, author of the opinion.
A lawyer for Mr. Weinstein said his legal team would ask New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, to review the claim. This court will not automatically take the case.
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“We are obviously disappointed with the court’s decision and look forward to asking the Court of Appeals to review what we believe are substantial meritorious legal issues,” said attorney Barry Kamins. “Mr. Weinstein will continue to seek all available legal remedies to establish that he did not receive a fair trial. “
In the fall of 2017, The New York Times published reports about Mr. Weinstein, who had sexually abused women, led dozens of others to talk about their own experiences and eventually sparked what became known as the #MeToo movement, a global repudiation of sexual misconduct by part of powerful men. .
The Weinstein case sparked a cascade of accusations against other prominent figures and widespread discussion about the ubiquity of sexual harassment and aggression, and the damage that this behavior caused.
Less than a year later, Mr. Weinstein was indicted by Manhattan prosecutors and charged with sexual offenses.
His trial began in January 2020, and at the end of the following month, a jury found him guilty of two offenses: first-degree criminal sexual assault and third-degree rape. He was acquitted of two counts of predatory sexual assault. In March, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Former Manhattan District Attorney who charged Mr. Weinstein with Cyrus R. Vance Jr. the strength of the evidence.
“The trial court issued a balanced verdict and, by any measure, provided the defendant with a fair trial,” Mr. Vance. “Above all, I am grateful that the Court of Appeal has accredited the testimony of the women to frame their legal analysis.”
His successor, Alvin L. Bragg, added that the appellate court had upheld “a monumental conviction that changed the way prosecutors and courts approach the complex processes of sexual predators.”
Mr Weinstein’s lawyers appealed his conviction in April 2021, arguing that three women who had accused Mr Weinstein. Weinstein of sexual assault for which he was never charged should not have been allowed to testify and that prosecutors had “proven Weinstein’s character not his conduct.”
But Judge Mazzarelli said the women had provided “useful information” and that their accounts had been key to showing Mr. Weinstein’s pattern of behavior. They showed, he said, that Mr. Weinstein did not see his victims as “romantic couples or friends,” but that his goal at all times was to position women so that he could have sex with them, and that if whether women consented or not was irrelevant to him. “
He said the witnesses had helped the jury understand the dynamic between Mr Weinstein and his victims, mainly because the women he had been accused of assaulting had continued to have sex with him afterwards.