23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault: The Weinstein case attracted international attention and is considered the impetus for the #MeToo movement. Now the ex-film mogul has achieved legal success.
New York/Los Angeles – Ex-Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, 70, can appeal his 2020 sex crimes conviction. An appeals court in New York granted permission for this step on Wednesday, as US media reported unanimously. “We are hopeful and grateful for this rare opportunity,” Weinstein’s spokesman Juda Engelmayer said in a statement.
In the earlier trial and in the conviction, a lot was wrong, Engelmayer continued. Weinstein insisted his innocence in the statement and thanked his lawyers: “Your hard work will help me to prove my innocence in the end.”
Weinstein’s lawyers said the ex-mogul didn’t get a fair trial. They justified their accusation, among other things, with an allegedly partisan juror and the alleged bias of judge James Burke.
The lawyers initially failed in June with an appeal before a lower instance at the New York Court of Appeals. Now a higher instance of the court complied with their request to contest the verdict.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison in March 2020 for rape and sexual assault. The conviction marked a milestone in legal history. In the high-profile case that helped spark the #MeToo movement, the jury believed the testimonies of several women, despite Weinstein’s protestations of innocence and a lack of evidence.
Weinstein is currently being held in a Los Angeles jail awaiting trial in California. dpa
