Weinstein's Conviction Overturned: A Disputed Victory and Ongoing Battle

The Appeals Court of New York overturned the verdict in the rape case involving film producer Harvey Weinstein on Thursday (April 25). Actress Ashley Judd, one of the first women to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, criticized the New York court's decision.

Now, the New York Court of Appeals overturned by a 4:3 vote the 2020 sentence in which [Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for a 2006 sexual assault] and third-degree rape in 2013. The appeal filed by the producer's defense argued that Judge James Burke allowed the prosecution to include testimonies from women whose statements against the film producer were not part of the ongoing case during that trial.

The second charge against the judge was his bias against the defendant and allowing the presentation of Weinstein in such a light that the trial was unfair. Judge Jenny Rivera ordered the entire proceedings to be restarted. Does this change anything in Weinstein's situation?

A man is in prison because he is sentenced to 16 years for a rape that took place in 2013. In a Los Angeles court, Weinstein was found not guilty of sexually assaulting one of the women who testified in New York. It was also one of the bases of the appeal, so who knows if, after the New York court's decision, Weinstein's defense will not try their luck there as well.

Overturning the 2020 verdict is a "slap in the face" to all of Weinstein's victims - write American media on Friday, observing the trial. One of the 12 jurors, who issued the convicting verdict four years ago, also spoke up. In a letter to U.S. News, she claims that the trial was absolutely fair.

It is not only the media and jurors who are furious. Actress Ashley Judd spoke in a similar tone.

During a United Nations-organized event on workplace safety on Thursday, Ashley Judd announced it was a day of institutional betrayal. She added that institutions are betraying those who have experienced male sexual violence.

Judd's words should not come as a surprise, as she was one of many women who, in 2017, accused Weinstein of sexual harassment in an article in "The New York Times", sparking the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. The following year, Judd filed a lawsuit against Weinstein, accusing him of defamation in 1988 after she refused his sexual advances.

On Thursday, April 25, in a Facebook post, Judd once again shared her thoughts on the verdict's annulment. She stated that the day's erroneous opinion of four judges does not change what the survivors know, emphasizing that the truth is immutable.

She expressed similar sentiments in a conversation with The New York Times, noting that it's unfair to the survivors, and emphasized that they still live in their truth and know what happened.

72-year-old Weinstein denied the allegations that he had taken part in sexual activities without mutual consent.