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A state appeals court upheld Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction in California and ordered a retrial.
Weinstein is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence for his conviction in California, the maximum term due to his previous conviction in New York. A three-judge panel of California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal found Friday that the sentence should be reconsidered after the conviction was overturned.
The list indicated that “the ruling is canceled and the case will be reconsidered for retrial.” “In all cases, the ruling shall be certain.”
In a statement, a Weinstein spokesman said the former film producer would appeal to the California Supreme Court, and that his lawyers “remain confident that the important legal issues merit further consideration.” “While the court affirmed the convictions, it also recognized Mr. Weinstein’s right to a new sentencing hearing,” he added.
The order was issued on the same day a New York state court judge dismissed a third-degree rape charge against Weinstein after Manhattan prosecutors said they would not pursue a fourth trial. He is awaiting a single court conviction for a criminal sexual act against his ex Runway project Miriam Haley’s assistant. Prosecutors said they would sentence them to 20 years in prison.
Since 2020, Weinstein has faced four prosecutions in two states. A New York jury deadlocked on a charge related to whether he raped Jessica Mann, who chose not to continue to testify in a fourth trial, in a hotel room in 2013.
“It is clear that when a convicted rapist is given privileges to continue to protect the jury from prior settlements, nondisclosure agreements, prior convictions, or other violations, there is no real justice for a victim of sexual assault when that rapist is a predator,” she said in a statement.
In 2024, the New York Supreme Court overturned Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction after finding that the judge overseeing the trial “erroneously admitted testimony about alleged prior sexual acts without accusation” in what amounted to an “abuse of judicial discretion.”
Unlike New York, courts in California are permitted to introduce evidence proving a defendant’s propensity to commit sex crimes, even when the allegations do not lead to formal charges. Such evidence is permitted in New York courts only when it is necessary to provide a history about the defendant’s motives, intent, or common scheme to carry out the alleged crimes.
