Posted on 04/25/2024 7:20:47 AM PDT by Red Badger
The disgraced Hollywood producer was tried for his past behavior as well as the crimes he was charged with, a key mistake, the appeals court ruled.
New York’s highest court has overturned fallen Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction.
In a 4-3 decision, the appeals court ruled Thursday that Weinstein was tried not only for the crimes he was charged with but with his past behavior, and that witnesses were allowed to testify about allegations that were not part of the case.
“Under our system of justice, the accused has a right to be held to account only for the crime charged,” the court said in its ruling.
The court has thus ordered a new trial, essentially forcing the disgraced movie mogul’s accusers to face reliving the painful episodes they described on the witness stand all over again.
“That is unfair to survivors,” actress Ashley Judd told The New York Times in the wake of the shock ruling. “We still live in our truth. And we know what happened.”
Weinstein, 72, will remain behind bars in spite of the ruling, because he was convicted of rape and sentenced to 16 years in Los Angeles in a separate case. He has been serving a 23-year sentence in New York after being convicted on allegations of forcibly performing oral sex on a woman and raping another woman.
“Today’s decision is a major step back in holding those accountable for acts of sexual violence,” attorney Douglas H. Wigdor, who has represented eight Weinstein victims, said in a statement. “Courts routinely admit evidence of other uncharged acts where they assist juries in understanding issues concerning the modus operandi or scheme of the defendant. The jury was instructed on the relevance of this testimony and overturning the verdict is tragic in that it will require the victims to endure yet another trial.”
Asked by the Times for a reaction to the decision, Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala said, “This happened 10 minutes ago. He doesn’t even know yet.”
Donna Rotunno, another member of Weinstein’s legal team, told The Daily Beast: “Justice was served. I believe this decision is larger than Harvey Weinstein. Courts cannot operate on emotion and lack of due process The world is off-balance, and when the justice system does not work, nothing does. This decision restores faith in the foundation of our system.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
“Why is a New York court spending Time and resources on this”
“AG” is said to stand for “Aspiring Governor.” DA has no catchy interpretation like that but similar political aspirations in DA’s usually explain pointless or politically motivated prosecutions.
The system will ultimately protect people like this.
I guess having someone just say, “Yeah, me too!” Is not good enough for conviction.
I don’t doubt the guy is a pig. What isn’t fair is to be convicted using examples of other crimes that were neither reported nor investigated.
But, he isn’t getting out any time soon…so NY state will have to do this all over again.
Because the “crimes” in question were never tried.
If he had been convicted of doing them, then using them as “prior” crimes is legit.
It sounds like the NY judge was not very smart. But, that seems to be the case these days.
“In a 4-3 decision, the appeals court ruled Thursday that Weinstein was tried not only for the crimes he was charged with but with his past behavior, and that witnesses were allowed to testify about allegations that were not part of the case.”
Weinstein is despicable but I agree with the court.
Which means you also don’t convict Trump of fraud by citing his mean tweets to lefties.
Feminism has in no way helped women. Go visit planet fitness.
DA = Dum Bass
That's a violation of Trump's 5th amendment protection of grand jury indictment for criminal charges, which is supposed to protect the people against surprise or secret charges.
-PJ
The only thing Government ever protects is itself.....................
Pig ping
Actress’s are now doing x-rated onlyfans.
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