Los Angeles, United States: Weinstein conviction rulings in California stood on Friday after an appeals court upheld Harvey Weinstein’s 2022 rape and sexual assault conviction but ordered resentencing.
A three-judge panel of California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal issued the unanimous decision, according to the Associated Press.
A jury convicted the former movie producer, 74, in December 2022 of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault.
The California case involved Italian model and actor Evgeniya Chernyshova, whom prosecutors identified at trial as Jane Doe 1. Weinstein received a 16-year prison sentence in the Los Angeles County case.
Weinstein spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said the defence disagreed with the court’s conclusions on trial fairness. He said the court had correctly recognised that Weinstein’s sentence could not stand.
His lawyers argued on appeal that Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench wrongly limited testimony linked to film festival head Pascal Vicedomini.
Attorney Jennifer Bonjean told appeals judges at the April 23 oral arguments that the lower court had weakened Weinstein’s defence. David Glassman, who represented the state, said the disputed evidence was irrelevant to any contested issue.
The ruling came one day after New York prosecutors dropped a remaining rape charge against Weinstein. The prosecutors acted after the accuser said she could no longer testify.
Read: Harvey Weinstein Guilty in 2025 Retrial for Sex Crimes
Weinstein is still convicted of another sexual felony in New York and remains behind bars. He awaits sentencing in September in New York, where prosecutors are seeking a 20-year prison term.
He would serve the California sentence only after completing the New York sentence. The Los Angeles trial jury acquitted Weinstein of sexual battery involving a massage therapist. Jurors failed to reach verdicts on counts involving two other women.
Engelmayer said Weinstein’s legal team planned to seek review in the California Supreme Court. The Weinstein conviction case remains part of the wider #MeToo-era legal fallout involving the former Hollywood producer.
