Harvey Weinstein has appealed his rape conviction in Los Angeles, six weeks after his rape conviction in New York was overturned.
Lawyers for the 72-year-old disgraced film producer say he did not get a fair trial in the 2022 California case, where he was convicted of rape and sexual assault, resulting in a 16-year prison sentence.
Request a new trial.
weinstein historic conviction in New York in 2020 It saw him sentenced to 23 years in prison and started a global #MeToo movement, but in April he was overturned by the state’s highest court.
The hearing was ruled to have been marred by “egregious” and inappropriate rulings by the judge, including the decision to allow the women to testify about allegations that were not part of the case.
Consequently, Weinstein could potentially face a new trial in New York.
Now, in this appeal against his conviction in California, Weinstein’s lawyers claim that “he is wrongfully convicted of sexually assaulting Jane Doe 1.”
The Los Angeles appeal documents, seen by NBC, Sky News’ US partner, also make additional allegations. They claim that evidence showing that model and actor Weinstein, convicted of rape, had a sexual relationship with the director of a film festival, was wrongly excluded from the trial. Weinstein and the actor were in Los Angeles for the festival.
The documents also say the judge was wrong to let jurors know about Weinstein’s prior conviction, now overturned in New York, and that in a situation similar to his now-overturned New York conviction, the jury was unfairly prejudiced. for the testimony of women about alleged attacks of which he was not accused.
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‘Confident’ actor’s appeal will fail
At his trial in California, Weinstein was accused of sexually assaulting four women, but a jury convicted him of attacking only one, Evgeniya Chernyshova, who testified that Weinstein showed up uninvited to her hotel room during the Los Angeles Film Festival. Angeles Italy in 2013.
Weinstein’s lawyers argue that Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench was wrong to prevent his defense from showing the jury Facebook messages showing that Chernyshova and the festival’s founder, Pascal Vicedomini, were in a sexual relationship.
They also argue that a lawsuit filed by Chernyshova shortly after the verdict shows that they should have been allowed to question whether she had financial motives in the state’s outcome.
Chernyshova’s team has said they are “confident that Weinstein’s appeal will be denied,” accusing him of presenting “the same tired arguments that he had already made several times, unsuccessfully, before the trial court.”
Photo: Reuters
Weinstein hired appellate lawyers after his sentencing, including Jennifer Bonjean, a Chicago-based attorney who helped Bill Cosby obtain his Overturning conviction for sexual assault in 2021.
Weinstein’s team said he “is entitled to a new trial in which his constitutional rights are safeguarded, in which he is allowed to present evidence of his innocence, and in which his conduct, not his character, is judged.”
The prosecution has until August 6 to present its response to the appeal.
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Weinstein, who has had heart problems, diabetes, sleep apnea and eye problems, has been described by his lawyer Arthur Aidala as “kind of a disaster health-wise” but still “sharp as a tack” mentally.
Once considered the most powerful man in Hollywood, he admitted his past behavior “caused a lot of pain” but maintained his innocence throughout, saying any sexual activity was consensual.
He is currently in jail in New York.
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