NEW YORK (Washington Insider Magazine)- In his New York sexual assault trial, disgraced former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been granted an appeal.
His appeal of his 2020 Manhattan sex crimes conviction will be heard by the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s top court, according to an agreement made on Wednesday.
Following a historic trial during the #MeToo movement that found Weinstein, 70, guilty of rape and criminal sexual assault in the third degree, he was given a 23-year term.
He claims that certain evidence introduced during the trial was unlawful, and that a juror who had written a book on “predatory older men” should have been dismissed.
According to the docket, Weinstein’s counsel have until October 18 to submit a brief to the court in order to start the appellate process.
Despite the fact that the First Department of the Appellate Division had earlier upheld Weinstein’s conviction, retiring Chief Judge Janet DiFiore approved Weinstein’s request for permission to appeal.
According to a statement sent by a Weinstein spokesperson to ABC News, the court’s ruling proves that the appeal is legitimate. The trial and conviction of Harvey had many flaws, and his attorneys would take all necessary steps to establish his innocence of the allegations.
On Wednesday, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office declined to comment on the charges against Weinstein.
A former “Project Runway” production assistant named Mimi Haley accused the defendant of first-degree criminal sexual assault, which resulted in a sentence of 20 years. Additionally, it contained a 3-year sentence for third-degree rape as a result of Jessica Mann’s allegation.
For the rape conviction, Weinstein was subject to a minimum of probation and a maximum of 4 years in jail; for the criminal sexual assault conviction, he risked a sentence of 5 to 25 years.
In that case, he was cleared of the more severe counts of first degree rape and predatory sexual assault.
Weinstein is presently incarcerated in Los Angeles as he awaits his sex offence trial there. He is accused of abusing two other ladies in separate events within a day of one another in February 2013 and is currently facing 4 felony sexual assault charges.
