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Harvey Weinstein’s sex crime convictions upheld by New York court

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Former movie producer Harvey Weinstein listens in courtroom throughout a pre-trial listening to for Weinstein, who was extradited from New York to Los Angeles to face sex-related fees in Los Angeles, California on July 29, 2021.

Etienne Laurent | AFP | Getty Photographs

A New York appeals courtroom has upheld Harvey Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault conviction, rejecting the disgraced media mogul’s attraction that recommended a decide unfairly tilted the result of his trial in favor of the prosecution.

The unanimous ruling by a five-justice appellate panel discovered the decide’s actions have been applicable and didn’t warrant overturning Weinstein’s 23-year sentence.

Weinstein was convicted in 2020 in New York earlier than being extradited to Los Angeles to await trial on 11 additional sex crimes charges.

Weinstein’s attraction was filed in April 2021, a bit of greater than a 12 months after he was convicted of a first-degree felony sexual act and third-degree rape. The arguments have been rejected in a 45-page ruling printed Thursday.

“We’re clearly upset within the courtroom’s resolution and sit up for asking the Court docket of Appeals to evaluate what we imagine are substantial meritorious authorized points,” mentioned Barry Kamins, a associate at Aidala, Bertuna and Kamins who represents Weinstein, in an announcement. “Mr. Weinstein will proceed to pursue all accessible authorized cures to determine that he didn’t obtain a good trial.”

Weinstein’s attorneys had argued in his attraction that errors by the trial decide made it not possible for Weinstein to obtain a good trial. In addition they mentioned prosecutors mustn’t have been allowed to name witnesses to testify about conduct for which Weinstein wasn’t charged. And so they mentioned one juror ought to have been faraway from the case as a result of she wrote a e book that concerned “predatory males” and misled the courtroom in regards to the e book’s contents.

Within the ruling Thursday, Justice Angela Mazzarelli wrote on behalf of the courtroom that the trial decide had used discretion within the materials allowed throughout the trial. She additionally famous that whereas the juror’s novel was about teenage ladies who’ve a relationship with an older man, the scenario depicted wasn’t predatory.

“We understand no foundation for decreasing the sentence, and we’ve got thought of defendant’s remaining arguments and discover them unavailing,” Mazzarelli wrote.

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