Harvey Weinstein Back in Court After Sex Crimes Conviction Overturned

Disgraced Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein will appear before a Manhattan court Wednesday, just days after New York’s highest court overturned his sex crimes conviction.

Manhattan prosecutors have indicated they plan to retry his case after an appeals court ruled last week he did not receive a fair trial in 2020, the BBC reports,with his failing health a possible issue affecting future judicial outcomes.

The 72-year-old is reportedly suffering from diabetes, cardiac issues, and sleep apnea, and is also nearly blind.

Weinstein was admitted to a hospital in the city for a battery of tests two days after his conviction was quashed, as Breitbart News reported.

He remains behind bars because of a separate rape conviction in California and is facing 16 years in prison as a result.

Last week, the New York state appeals court ruled that the judge overseeing the former Hollywood mogul’s case had erred when he allowed the testimony of women who made allegations about Weinstein for which he was never charged.

The judge had “erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes”, the appeals court ruled by a vote of four to three.

The BBC report details the decision also said the trial judge compounded the error by letting Weinstein be cross-examined in a way that portrayed him in a “highly prejudicial” light.

“The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial,” the court found.

File/Harvey Weinstein leaves New York court, Monday, Jan. 6, 2020, in New York. The disgraced movie mogul faces allegations of rape and sexual assault.  (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

In a statement on Friday, the Manhattan prosecutor’s office vowed to work towards a second conviction, although it did not provide any timeline.

“We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

Weinstein co-founded the Miramax film studio, whose hits included Shakespeare in Love, which won best picture at the Academy Awards, and Pulp Fiction.

His films received more than 300 Oscar nominations and 81 statuettes.

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