Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction from 2022 has officially been overturned on April 25th by the New York court. Many members of the #MeToo movement are shocked at the overturning, although Weinstein will still remain in jail for the foreseeable future due to his rape conviction in Los Angeles.
According to #MeToo advocates, the overturning is because of legal technicalities, and the court is not necessarily stating that Weinstein is innocent. The original trial after his continuous stream of allegations in 2017 marked a major landmark for sexual assault victims, which proved that even those with the most power could be taken down with hard evidence.
“I get that legally it needs to be overturned for technicalities, but at the end of the day it's a major setback for the whole situation. I hope the retrial goes well and we can keep him in prison for as long as possible,”NHS senior Roman Verna said.
The district attorney for Manhattan has stated that they intend to put Weinstein on trial again, and that at least one of his accusers is willing to testify once more. It should be made clear that the legal body in New York is not at all saying Weinstein is not guilty, in fact some involved with the case were very upset with this outcome.
Stating that this verdict “comes at the expense and safety of women,”Judge Madeline Singas said.
However, Weinstein’s lawyers are seeing this as a way to overturn his conviction in Los Angeles, due to the New York ruling affecting the opinions of the jurors.
“A jury was told in California that he was convicted in another state for rape. Turns out he shouldn't have been convicted and it wasn't a fair conviction … It interfered with his presumption of innocence in a significant way in California,” Weinstein attorney Jennifer Bonjean said.
The district attorney has managed to make this as minimal of a loss as possible for the #MeToo movement by managing to keep Weinstein in custody, and aiming for a re-trial as soon as possible.
“It was a strong case, and he was convicted and sentenced to 23 years… it remains a strong case… We think early fall date, possible as early as September, for a trial,” District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said.
The reason for the overture comes in the allegations that were allowed to be used. They believe there were multiple improper rulings, but mainly that women were allowed to testify about allegations that were not necessarily connected to the core of the case.
“It's really upsetting that his team could use legal loopholes to overturn it. I think its a really big setback for victims everywhere, I just hope they can remedy the situation in the retrial,” NHS senior Valerie Samper said.
Weinstein’s New York conviction would have had him in prison for 23 years, which would have led him to be 95 in prison. Weinstein has requested to stay in Bellevue Hospital, which is where he was transported from the infirmary from Rikers Island medical ward due to medical issues and many tests his team says he needs. He currently needs a walker and a wheelchair, and has multiple audio and heart problems.
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