Former film mogul Harvey Weinstein filed an appeal on Monday seeking to overturn his third-degree rape conviction and first-degree criminal sex charges.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, argued that his client, who was found guilty of rape and sentenced to 23 years in prison, did not receive a fair trial. The judge disregarded the well-accepted principles of New York law, Aidala said, violating Weinstein’s constitutional rights.
Weinstein was found guilty in the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan in February 2020 of first-degree criminal sexual assault and third-degree rape, but was acquitted of the two most serious criminal charges he faced.
Six women testified at the trial claiming he sexually abused them, but the case was based only on incidents involving two women, Mimi Haley and Jessica Mann. Haley testified that Weinstein forced oral sex against his will in his Manhattan apartment in 2006, and Jessica Mann said he raped her in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.
The 166-page lawsuit presents seven main arguments for reversing the verdict and ordering a new trial to be carried out with a different judge.
Among them, Weinstein’s lawyer pointed out that, during the trial, one of the jurors was writing a book about older predatory men that contained similarities to the case; the book ended up being published.
Aidala argued that the judge had a bias that should have led to the removal of the panel. The lawyer also argued that the damaging value of the testimony of three women detailing acts of sexual misconduct that were not part of the prosecution was overwhelming.
In addition, Aidala said Judge James Burke had threatened to allow prosecutors to question Weinstein about 29 previous acts if he spoke out. As a result, Weinstein never testified in his own defense.
Weinstein’s lawyers argued that they were not allowed to challenge the testimony of the prosecution witness, Dr. Barbara Ziv, who testified about “rape myths”. Finally, Weinstein’s lawyers argued that his sentence was too harsh and excessive.
“We will respond in our petition to the court,” said a spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
After reviewing the appeal, NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos said the discussion about the judge who wrote the book is the strongest of the seven. Cevallos says that if there is any doubt about the impartiality of a potential juror, the trial courts should be wrong in exempting the juror. However, if the juror has provided these guarantees, it gives the court some discretion that an appellate court cannot later challenge.
“The jury has ruled and I believe that this conviction should not be reversed and that the court should not act as the 13th juror to reverse the conviction,” said Gloria Allred, who represented Haley in the case. “Mimi was very brave to testify publicly as a witness in this criminal case. I hope that the trial against Mr. Weinstein will remain and that your request for a retrial will not be ordered. “
Weinstein, who is being held at the Wende Correctional Center in upstate New York, responded to questions sent via email through his publicist with an answer.
He continued to declare his innocence, saying, “This feature does a great job in clarifying my innocence and I hope that the serious flaws in my process will appear.”
Weinstein also faces charges in Los Angeles based on the account of two unidentified women who accused him of attacking them just one day apart in February 2013.