Harvey Weinstein appeals rape conviction in LA

Harvey Weinstein has appealed his rape conviction in Los Angeles, six weeks after his other rape conviction in New York was overturned.

Lawyers for the 72-year-old disgraced film producer say he did not receive a fair trial in the 2022 California case in which he was convicted of rape and sexual assault, resulting in a 16-year prison sentence.

He requests a retrial.

Weinstein’s groundbreaking conviction in New York in 2020 He was sentenced to 23 years in prison and launched a global #MeToo movement – but in April overturned by the state’s highest court.

It ruled that the hearing had been marred by “egregious” errors of judgement, including the decision to allow women to testify on allegations that were not part of the case.

Weinstein could therefore possibly face a new trial in New York.

In appealing his conviction in California, Weinstein’s lawyers now claim that he was “wrongfully found guilty of sexually abusing Jane Doe 1.”

The appeal documents from LA, which Sky News’ US partner NBC has seen, contain further allegations. According to them, evidence was wrongly excluded from the proceedings that showed that the model and actor Weinstein, who was convicted of rape, had a sexual relationship with the director of a film festival. Weinstein and the actor were in LA for the festival.

The documents also say that the judge improperly informed the jury of Weinstein’s previous, now-overturned conviction in New York, and that the jury in a case similar to his now-overturned New York conviction was unfairly biased by women’s testimony about alleged assaults he was not charged with.

Actor is “confident” that appeal will fail

At his trial in California, Weinstein was charged with sexually abusing four women. However, the jury only found him guilty of assaulting one woman: Evgeniya Chernyshova, who testified that Weinstein showed up uninvited at her hotel room during the 2013 LA Italia Film Festival.

Weinstein’s lawyers argue that Supreme Court Justice Lisa B. Lench wrongly prohibited his defense from showing the jury Facebook messages showing that Chernyshova and festival founder Pascal Vicedomini had 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 decision.

Chernyshova and her team expressed their view that they were “confident that Weinstein’s appeal will be denied” and accused him of “making the same hackneyed arguments that he has made unsuccessfully before the court on numerous occasions before.”

Weinstein has hired appeals lawyers following his conviction, including Jennifer Bonjean – a Chicago-based attorney who helped Bill Cosby win his Conviction for sexual assault overturned in 2021.

Weinstein’s team said he was “entitled to a retrial in which his constitutional rights are upheld, in which he is allowed to present evidence of his innocence, and in which his conduct – not his character – is at the forefront.”

The prosecution has until August 6 to file its response to the appeal.

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Weinstein, who suffered from heart problems, diabetes, sleep apnea and eye problems, was described by his lawyer Arthur Aidala as “healthy but still mentally healthy.”

He was once considered the most powerful man in Hollywood and admitted that his past behavior had “caused a lot of pain.” However, he always maintained his innocence and stated that all sexual activity was consensual.

He is currently in prison in New York.