By Sonia Moghe and Dakin Andone | CNN
Harvey Weinstein’s legal intercourse act and rape convictions have been upheld by a New York appellate court docket.
All appellate judges concurred within the opinion.
In an announcement, Weistein spokesperson Juda Engelmayer stated his authorized workforce was “disenchanted, however not stunned.”
“We're reviewing all of our choices and can search to petition the court docket appeals and past.”
Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin Bragg in an announcement expressed gratitude for a choice upholding “a monumental conviction that modified the best way prosecutors and courts strategy advanced prosecutions of sexual predators.”
Weinstein’s attraction was filed final April, about one yr after he was convicted of first-degree legal sexual act and third-degree rape. He's serving a 23-year jail sentence.
In a movement filed final yr, Weinstein’s attorneys argued the disgraced Hollywood mogul’s 2020 conviction needs to be reversed as a result of his trial was tainted for a number of causes, most notably a biased decide and juror.
Weinstein nonetheless faces trial in Los Angeles for extra legal costs associated to the alleged sexual assault of a number of ladies. He has pleaded not responsible.
An legal professional for Weinstein argued the attraction in a listening to earlier than a panel of New York State appeals court docket judges in December, saying one juror who had written a e-book that concerned “predatory males” misled the court docket in regards to the e-book’s contents and may have been dismissed.
Assistant Manhattan District Legal professional Valerie Figueredo argued the e-book didn't relate to the conduct Weinstein was accused of.
“It merely didn't show that she had any sort of bias or a frame of mind that rendered her incapable of issuing a good and neutral verdict,” Figueredo instructed the 5 judges for the Appellate Division of the First Judicial Division of the Supreme Courtroom of the State of New York.
Weinstein legal professional Barry Kamins additionally argued trial jurors have been overwhelmed by “unhealthy proof” that ought to not have been admitted by the decide.
“This was a trial of his character,” Kamins stated, including later, “I don’t assume there’s been a case, that I can recall, the place the piling on has been as evident because it was on this case.”
Weinstein has maintained his innocence and denied all allegations towards him since they first emerged, sparking the #MeToo motion and inspiring ladies to talk out and share their very own experiences with sexual abuse and misconduct.
Within the New York case, he was finally convicted largely primarily based on testimony by Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann. Haley testified that Weinstein forcibly carried out oral intercourse on her in 2006 at his Manhattan condo, and Mann testified that he raped her in 2013 throughout what she described as an abusive relationship. He was discovered not responsible of predatory sexual assault and one rely of first-degree rape.