Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by a New York appeals court

Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's 2020 conviction on charges of sexual assault and rape has been overturned by a New York appeals court on Thursday.

In a 4-3 decision, the state of New York court of Appeals ruled that the judge who oversaw Weinstein’s 2020 conviction prejudiced Weinstein with “egregious” improper rulings and was mistaken in allowing other women to testify whose accusations were not a part of the 2020 case.

“[Weinstein] was convicted by a jury for various sexual crimes against three named complainants and, on appeal, claims that he was judged, not on the conduct for which he was indicted, but on irrelevant, prejudicial, and untested allegations of prior bad acts,” read Thursday’s decision.

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“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 remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial,” the decision continued.

Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction was the biggest trial of the #MeToo era and is considered a landmark case.

Prosecutors will now have to determine whether they will retry Weinstein, who was sentenced to 23 years in prison in 2020 for two sex crimes- forcing oral sex on a production assistant in 2006 as well as rape in the third degree of an actor in 2013.

He will remain imprisoned 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.

The ruling reopens a painful chapter in America’s dealing with sexual misconduct by powerful figures. It all began in 2017 with a flood of allegations against Weinstein. The court has now ordered a new trial which may need his accusers to testify again - forcing many to relive their traumas on the witness stand.

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Survivors of Weinstein shared their disappointment and outrage at the latest ruling. The actress Ashley Judd, one of the first people to publicly share allegations against Weinstein, told the New York Times, “That’s really hard for the survivors … We still live in our truth. And we know what happened.”