Disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein may argue for overturning his 2020 rape conviction before the New York Court of Appeals, a judge has ruled.
Judge Janet DiFiore granted Weinstein an appeal on Wednesday, meaning oral arguments in the case can take place in 2023, NBC News reports. The judge said there are "questions of law" involved in the case that should be reviewed, per CNN.
Weinstein's attorney said his team is "hopeful the entire court will find that Mr. Weinstein did not receive a fair trial and reverse his conviction." Weinstein, meanwhile, said in a statement his lawyers' "hard work will help me prove my innocence in the end."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Weinstein was convicted on rape charges in February 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison after facing sexual misconduct allegations from dozens of women beginning in 2017. But his attorneys have argued that "prior bad acts" witnesses, whose allegations Weinstein was not charged with but were used to establish a pattern of behavior, should not have been allowed to testify in his trial.
Weinstein's lawyers also argued a juror who wrote a novel about "predatory older men" should have been removed, according to the Los Angeles Times. In June, an appeals court upheld Weinstein's conviction, saying including the "prior bad acts" testimony was "helpful" for the jury.
Weinstein's appeal comes after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction in 2021, though that case had to do with an agreement Cosby had with a previous prosecutor.
Meanwhile, Weinstein has also been charged with sexual assault in California, and his trial is scheduled for October. He has pleaded not guilty.
-
Violent videos of Charlie Kirk’s death are renewing debate over online censorshipTalking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
Africa could become the next frontier for space programsThe Explainer China and the US are both working on space applications for Africa
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
