BREAKING: New York Court Overturns Harvey Weinstein’s #MeToo Sex Crimes

On Thursday, April 25, the New York State Court of Appeals overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, citing improper rulings by the judge in the landmark #MeToo trial.

Weinstein had been serving a 23-year sentence in a New York prison after being found guilty of criminal sex acts and rape in the third degree.

This overturn is the second major setback for the #MeToo movement, following the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to hear an appeal of the decision to throw out Bill Cosby's sexual assault conviction.

Improper Rulings

The New York appeals court determined that Judge James Burke's rulings in favor of the prosecution during the trial prejudiced Weinstein against a fair trial. The judge allowed women to testify about allegations not officially part of the case. Weinstein's lawyers argued that the judge's decisions turned the trial into "1-800-GET-HARVEY."

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New Trial Ordered

Although the New York court's decision overturned Weinstein's conviction and ordered a new trial, he will remain imprisoned because in Los Angeles in February, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison following a separate rape conviction. Weinstein was acquitted in Los Angeles on charges involving one of the women who testified in New York.

Impact on #MeToo

Weinstein's conviction had been widely hailed as a milestone achievement in the #MeToo movement. The movement, which began in 2017 with a flood of allegations against Weinstein, encouraged victims of sexual misconduct to speak out and brought a cultural shift in attitude toward sexual harassment and assault. This was a legal ruling, and the allegations and testimony against Weinstein still stand.