Weinstein appeals sexual assault conviction in California after it was dismissed in New York: reports

Harvey Weinstein appealed his sexual assault conviction in California after New York overturned his rape and sexual assault convictions, several media outlets reported Friday.

The appeal was filed in California’s Second Appellate District, with his lawyers claiming the former movie mogul was “wrongfully convicted of sexually abusing Jane Doe 1.” Weinstein was convicted in late 2022 in the Los Angeles case, where he was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Weinstein’s lawyers argued on appeal that the former film producer did not receive a fair trial because evidence concerning Jane Doe 1 on the day of the alleged assault was not considered. They also said that prosecutors failed to disclose Jane Doe 1’s romantic affair and also used alleged criminal assaults as evidence that Weinstein had not been charged at the time.

“The prosecution’s case against JD1 was weak and based in part on evidence it knew to be false,” his lawyers said in the appeal, according to NBC News. “The jury was misled about JD1’s credibility and prevented from considering game-changing evidence that pointed to the defendant’s innocence and contradicted the prosecution’s theory of guilt.”

His attorney also said they were not allowed to cross-examine Jane Doe 1 about her finances. They said the jury was left with “another false impression about JD1, namely that she had no financial interest in the outcome of the case.”

“Weinstein’s appeal makes the same tired arguments that he has unsuccessfully raised before the court multiple times before,” Jane Doe 1’s attorney told CNN. “We firmly believe that the court adequately reviewed the evidence and made all the correct decisions in its evidentiary rulings. We are confident that Weinstein’s appeal will be denied and he will spend many years in prison.”

The West Coast appeal comes after Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for sexual assault and rape was overturned by New York’s Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision in April.

“We conclude that the court erroneously admitted testimony about alleged prior sexual conduct that was not charged and that was not related to the plaintiffs in the underlying crimes,” the court’s decision from late April states. “The remedy for these glaring errors is a new trial.”
Shortly thereafter, he was hospitalized for various tests and was on his way to a New York prison.

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