In a dramatic reversal of the nation's landmark #MeToo trial, a New York appeals court on Thursday overturned movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault conviction, citing the judge's errors.
In a 4-3 ruling, a state appeals court found that the judge who presided over Weinstein's 2017 trial had prejudiced the disgraced Hollywood movie mogul's case by allowing a series of women who claimed Weinstein assaulted them to serve as witnesses even though their allegations were not part of the case.
“We conclude that the trial court erred in admitting testimony of uncharged alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the underlying offense complainants because the testimony served no material purpose,” the court said.
The court ordered a new trial, arguing that “the synergistic effect of these errors was not harmless.”
“The only evidence against the defendant was the testimony of the complainants, and the effect of the court's decision was, on the one hand, to enhance their credibility and to diminish the defendant's character before the jury,” the court added.
The Miramax co-founder has been serving a 23-year sentence since he was convicted of rape and a felony sex crime in 2020 after allegedly assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haley and onetime aspiring actress Jessica Mann.
Weinstein, who has denied any wrongdoing, appealed in 2021 citing a number of issues, including errors at trial.
In a 160-page appeal, Weinstein's legal team again attacked the credibility of six women who testified at his 2020 trial in lower Manhattan. While most of the allegations were at least corroborated by the testimony of others the women told about the alleged assaults at the time they occurred, Weinstein's legal team questioned why they remained in contact with the mogul — or, in some cases, continued to have sex. with him — after the alleged crimes.
