Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeals

The New York Court of Appeals upheld Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction and Thursday’s 23-year imprisonment, alleging that his groundbreaking #MeToo judge was not part of the criminal case. He rejected the claim of the movie mogul that he was at a disadvantage by allowing the woman to testify about. ..

A verdict by five judges in the state’s Interim Court of Appeals confirmed one of America’s hottest verdicts to date, considering sexual misconduct by powerful persons. This era began with a flood of allegations against Weinstein.

Weinstein spokeswoman Judah Engelmeier said he was considering his options and would appeal to the state’s Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals.

“We are disappointed, but not surprising,” Engelmeier said.

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Waynestein, 70, was convicted of forcing oral sex on television and filmmaking assistants in 2006 in New York in February 2020 and raping an ambitious actress in 2013. rice field.

He was acquitted of rape and predatory sexual assault due to actor Annabella Sciorra’s allegations of encounters in the mid-1990s. The Associated Press generally does not identify people who claim sexual assault unless they agree to be named. Shiora publicly talked about her claim.

Waynestein was imprisoned in California and was handed over last year, awaiting trial on charges of attacking five women in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills between 2004 and 2013.

In a 45-page ruling, the Court of Appeals accused judge James Burke of violating Waynestein, but the prosecution was testified by three women whose allegations did not lead to a proceeding in the New York case. He said he had properly exercised his discretion to allow the proceedings to be strengthened. ..

The judge said that the amount of material associated with the 28 alleged acts in 30 years was “undoubtedly large and probably seemingly annoying at first,” but Burke’s relevance to the case. Appropriately exercised discretion in assessing. ..

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Judges were far more critical of their December oral arguments, including those that paved the way for prosecutors to provide evidence of other unrelated misconduct when they testified to Waynestein. Questioned the numerous judgments of.

The judge said the ruling had effectively silenced his defense at the time, reflecting concerns from Weinstein’s lawyer.

On Thursday, the panel also rejected Weinstein’s claim that Burke was otherwise wrong: allowing a woman who wrote a novel, including a predatory older man, to remain in the jury and prosecution. By having the prosecutor testify to the victim’s actions and experts in rape myths. Burke did not allow testimony on similar subjects from defense experts.

Waynestein’s conviction, foretold by activists and supporters as a milestone, was similarly quickly analyzed by a defense lawyer trying to drive the rest of his life behind the bar. rice field.

The rules for calling additional witnesses to testify about “previous bad deeds” varied from state to state and were the subject of Bill Cosby’s successful appeal convicted of his sexual assault in Pennsylvania.

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The New York rules shaped by the 1901 addiction decision are one of the more restrictive.

At a hearing at the Court of Appeals in December, Waynestein’s lawyer claimed that additional testimony exceeded what was normally permitted. He didn’t have the opportunity to protect himself.

Burke’s decision, which allowed prosecutors to use Waynestein’s past stories to attack his credibility, worked to prevent him from taking the position of a witness, said Waynestein’s lawyer Barry Kamins. Told the Appeals Commission at a hearing in December.

“The jury was overwhelmed by such unfavorable and bad evidence,” Cummins claimed. “This was a trial of Harvey Weinstein’s personality. People thought he was a bad guy.”