An appeals court in California on Friday upheldHarvey Weinstein‘s 2022 conviction on charges of rape and sexual assault but vacated a 16-year prison sentence and ordered the trial judge to resentence him.
“The sentence is vacated and the matter is remanded for re-sentencing,” an online update posted by the California 2nd District Court of Appeal read. “In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed.”
The three-judge panel unanimously issued the decision, saying Weinstein’s trial judge did not violate his constitutional rights.
“We reject his attempts to disturb the jury’s guilty verdicts,” the judges wrote.
Weinstein to appeal conviction and sentence
The panel called for the resentencing because the lower court judge considered convictions in New York that were later thrown out as an aggravating factor in determining how long he should remain in prison. California’s attorney general agreed.
A spokesperson for Weinstein, now 74, said his team disagreed with the court’s decision to uphold the guilty verdict for one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against an Italian model and actor and would appeal the ruling to California’s Supreme Court.
“We are disappointed by today’s decision and respectfully disagree with the Court of Appeal’s conclusions regarding the fairness of Mr. Weinstein’s trial,” Juda Engelmayer said in an email to the AP news agency. “This is not the end of the appellate process.”
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No additional trial in New York
The California decision came a day after prosecutors in New York decided Weinstein would not face a fourth trial there, dropping the #MeToo-era case because the accuser said she could not bear to testify again in what would have been a fourth trial.
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Thursday that after testifying before two grand juries and three trial juries, the accuser did not wish to take the stand again.
After years of rumors regarding Weinstein, investigations by The New Yorker magazine and The New York Times newspaper exposed a series of allegations from more than 80 people about his abusive behavior.
Weinstein has denied all the allegations made against him.
Catalyst for the #MeToo movement
But the furor about his alleged misconduct grew into the global Me Too movement and a reckoning that rocked the world of entertainment, with multiple men called to account for abusing their positions to exploit young women.
While that trial will not move forward, Weinstein will remain behind bars while awaiting sentencing in another New York case in which he was convicted of a sexual felony. A sentence is expected be to be issued in September with prosecutors seeking a 20-year prison term.
He will serve his new California sentence only after his New York term is complete. Weinstein’s legal team, however, has said it intends to appeal Friday’s ruling from the California appeals court.
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Edited by: Kieran Burke
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