A California appeals court has upheld Harvey Weinstein’s 2022 rape and sexual assault conviction, but ordered the trial judge to resentence him. The three-judge panel from California’s 2nd District Court of Appeal unanimously issued the decision, saying his trial judge did not violate the former movie magnate’s constitutional rights.

Background

Weinstein, 74, was convicted in December 2022 of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against an Italian model and actor known during the trial as Jane Doe 1, now identified as Evgeniya Chernyshova. She testified that Weinstein arrived uninvited to her hotel room during the 2013 LA Italia Film Festival and assaulted her.

Weinstein’s defense argued that he deserved a new trial because Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench wrongly prevented his trial lawyers from asking about Facebook messages between Chernyshova and festival head Pascal Vicedomini that would have shown they had a sexual relationship.

The appeals court said in its ruling that Weinstein did make the arguments he wanted during the trial based on other evidence, including another set of Facebook messages that Lench allowed. The court also found that Weinstein’s lawyers failed to adhere to California’s rape shield law prohibiting evidence of an accuser’s sexual history when they tried to introduce the messages.

Resentencing

The decision came a day after prosecutors in New York decided Weinstein would not face a fourth trial there, dropping the case after the accuser said she could not bear to testify again. The California panel said that resentencing was necessary because the judge that sentenced him considered New York convictions that were later thrown out as an aggravating factor.

Weinstein remains behind bars awaiting a September sentencing in New York, where prosecutors are seeking a 20-year prison term. He would serve his new sentence in California only after his New York term is complete.

Original reporting: NBC4 Los Angeles — read the source article.