Outrage as court reverses Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction
LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK—Hollywood stars, including several actresses who accused Harvey Weinstein of assault, reacted with shock and outrage on Thursday after the former movie producer’s New York sex crimes conviction was overturned.
Rosanna Arquette, Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino were among those to speak out as Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for rape and sexual assault was reversed by the city’s highest court on Thursday.
Weinstein—who is also serving a separate 16-year rape sentence handed down in California—has been ordered to face a new trial in New York.
Weinstein’s 2020 landmark case fueled the #MeToo movement.
Many accusers of the former Hollywood movie mogul condemned Thursday’s decision, with the actress Ashley Judd telling reporters it was “an act of institutional betrayal.”
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg signaled it planned to retry Weinstein.
“Harvey was rightfully convicted. It’s unfortunate that the court has overturned his conviction. As a survivor, I am beyond disappointed,” actress Arquette told The Hollywood Reporter.
Bitterly divided
“This is unfair to survivors. We live in our truth. We know what happened,” said Judd, the first actress to come forward with allegations against Weinstein, via Instagram.
Fellow Weinstein accuser Sorvino said she was “Horrified!”
In a bitterly divided 4-3 ruling, the state Court of Appeals said the trial judge made a critical mistake by letting women testify that Weinstein assaulted them, even though their accusations were not part of the charges he faced.
The appeals court said the trial judge compounded the error by ruling that if Weinstein took the witness stand, prosecutors could question him on a wide range of “loathsome” conduct, including bullying and fits of anger toward associates.
It said the ruling had an impact on Weinstein’s decision not to testify in his own defense, undermining a fact-finding process that turned on the parties’ credibility.
“The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial,” Judge Jenny Rivera wrote for the majority.
Reacting to the ruling on social media platform X, Sorvino said, “Since when don’t courts allow evidence of pattern of prior bad acts to be admitted? He’s a prolific serial predator who raped/harmed 200 women!”
The actress added that she was “Disgusted with justice system skew towards predators not victims.”
Weinstein, 72, has been serving a 23-year sentence in a prison in upstate Rome, New York.
Jurors in Manhattan convicted him in February 2020 of sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006, and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013.
‘Great day’The conviction included charges of first-degree sexual assault and third-degree rape. Weinstein was acquitted on other charges.At a press conference, Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala called the decision “a great day for America.”
Aidala said Weinstein expressed relief when they spoke about the decision, which Weinstein learned about when someone at the prison handed him a piece of paper announcing the outcome.
“He just said thank you more times than I can count,” Aidala said. “He’s in a horrible place, a horrible situation, but the human spirit is strong and he’s done the best he can.”
Weinstein is not expected to be freed immediately, as he faces a separate 16-year prison term imposed last year in California after he was convicted for the 2013 rape of an actress at a Los Angeles hotel. That conviction still stands.
Weinstein’s New York conviction had been considered a milestone for the #MeToo movement, in which women accused hundreds of men in entertainment, media, politics and other fields of sexual misconduct.
“We will do everything in our power to retry this case,” Emily Tuttle, a spokesperson for Bragg, said in an email.
The case was brought by Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance. —reports from AFP, REUTERS
