Harvey Weinstein’s Rape Conviction Overturned: A Look Back At 2020 Trial That Declared Him Guilty

New York’s highest court overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction on Thursday, April 25. The ruling added that the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.

Harvey Weinstein was named in the #MeToo movement

Weinstein has been serving a 23-year sentence in a New York prison following his conviction on charges of criminal sex act for forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actress in 2013.

Allegations against Weinstein, the once powerful and feared studio boss behind such Oscar winners as Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love, ushered in the #MeToo movement. Dozens of women came forward to accuse Weinstein, including famous actresses such as Ashley Judd and Uma Thurman. His New York trial drew intense publicity, with protesters chanting “rapist” outside the courthouse.

After a month-long trial and nine days of deliberations, Los Angeles jurors in December 2020 found Harvey Weinstein guilty of the rape and sexual assault of just one of the four accusers he was charged with abusing.  The producer, who was already two years into a 23-year sentence for a rape and sexual assault conviction, was found guilty of rape, forced oral copulation, and another sexual misconduct count involving the woman who said he appeared uninvited at her hotel room door during a Los Angeles film festival in 2013.

Witnesses at Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 sexual assault trial 

Weinstein was acquitted of a sexual battery allegation made by a massage therapist who treated him at a hotel in 2010. The jury was unable to decide on counts involving two accusers, notably rape and sexual assault charges involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. A mistrial was declared on those counts.

Siebel Newsom’s intense and dramatic testimony, in which she described being raped by Weinstein in a hotel room in 2005, brought the trial its most dramatic moments. But only eight of the 12 jurors agreed to find Weinstein guilty of those counts.

Jurors were deadlocked 10-2 on a sexual battery count involving Lauren Young, the only accuser who testified at both Weinstein trials. She said she was a model aspiring to be an actor and screenwriter who was meeting with Weinstein about a script in 2013 when he trapped her in a hotel bathroom, groped her, and masturbated in front of her.

Lacking any forensic evidence or eyewitness accounts of years-old allegations, the case hinged heavily on the stories and credibility of the four women at the center of the charges. Prosecutors called 40 other witnesses in an attempt to give context and corroboration to those stories. Four were other women who were not part of the charges but testified that Weinstein raped or sexually assaulted them. They were brought to the stand to establish a pattern of sexual predation.

Weinstein beat four other felony charges before the trial even ended when prosecutors said a woman he was charged with raping twice and sexually assaulting twice would not appear to testify. They declined to give a reason. Judge Lisa Lench dismissed those charges. 

Harvey Weinstein’s pattern of predatory behaviour

Even though this particular trial’s judgement might be overturned by the NY court, the producer has been accused of several sexual assault allegations. Some of those verdicts came in his favour, some against and some he is still trying to appeal in court to get overturned as well.

Harvey Weinstein is currently incarcerated in New York at the Mohawk Correctional Facility, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Albany. He maintains his innocence. He contends any sexual activity was consensual.

(with inputs from AP)