A five-justice appellate panel in New York affirmed a rape conviction and 23-year prison sentence for former Hollywood film and TV producer Harvey Weinstein Thursday.
Allegations of Weinstein’s sexual misconduct were a catalyst for the #MeToo movement and allegations against other powerful people in the entertainment industry. He was convicted of rape in the third degree and a criminal sexual act in the first degree in March 2020.
“We perceive no basis for reducing the sentence, and we have considered defendant’s remaining arguments and find them unavailing,” said a 45-page ruling written by Justice Angela Mazzarelli, on behalf of the court.
Testimony from Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann, two of Weinstein’s accusers, led to his conviction. According to CNN, Haley testified that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006 and Mann testified that he raped her in 2013 during what she described as an abusive relationship.
In an appeal of the initial judgment of the Supreme Court of New York County, Weinstein’s lawyers included a variety of claims as to why the conviction should be overturned. These included claims that the jury was not impartial and that Weinstein’s encounters with Haley were entirely consensual.
“Mimi was very courageous to have testified publicly as a witness in this criminal case,” said Haley’s attorney Gloria Allred in a statement issued last year. “I hope that the judgment against Mr. Weinstein will stand and that his request for a new trial on the issue of criminal sexual assault of Mimi will not be ordered.”
Apart from dismissing that claim from Weinstein’s team, the appellate panel said that claims that Mann’s accusations were driven by “Borderline Personality Disorder,” could not stand, as there is no evidence she was ever diagnosed with the condition.
The ruling issued this week also references an unnamed “Juror 11” who Weinstein’s team claimed was not impartial since she was working on a (now published) novel called “Age of Consent” as well as her familiarity with other works related to sexual consent. Justices agreed that the juror was fit to weigh in on the case.
“Finally, we reject defendant’s argument that Juror 11 had a pecuniary interest in securing a seat on the jury,” said the ruling. “There is simply no basis to argue that the juror’s service on the jury for defendant’s trial would attract readers who otherwise would not have been inclined to read her novel.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Weinstein, 69, will not be eligible for parole until he is 87-year-old. He was extradited to Los Angeles last summer for another trial over additional sexual assault charges related to multiple women.
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