Weinstein is also convicted of rape in California, so the New York ruling will have no practical effect on his imprisonment.

Gloria Allred, the attorney who represented the prosecution’s key witness in the New York case, Mimi Haley, said the court’s decision was a “significant step backwards for the ‘Me Too’ movement.”

“Although victims have lost this battle, they have not lost the war,” Allred said, adding that Haley would consider testifying in another trial. ”

Emily Tuttle, deputy director of communications and senior adviser for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, said it would “do everything in our power to retry this case.”

Courts routinely admit evidence of other uncharged acts where they assist juries in understanding issues concerning the intent, modus operandi or scheme of the defendant, said Douglas H. Wigdor, an attorney who has represented eight Weinstein accusers, including two witnesses in his New York criminal trial. .

“The jury was instructed on the relevance of this testimony,” Wigdor said. “Overturning the verdict is tragic in that it will require the victims to endure yet another trial.”

Courts in California have long allowed the use of witnesses who offer allegations of previous bad acts.

“Prior bad acts evidence can be controversial, and the slim majority of appellate judges (in this case) ruled that the testimony of the other victims was prejudicial because their conduct was not charged,” said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who is president of West Coast Trial Lawyers.

“Jurors may not believe the testimony of one victim, but it’s hard for them to reject the testimony of multiple victims who tell the same story,” Rahmani added.

The Miramax co-founder has been serving a 23-year sentence since he was convicted in 2020 of rape and a felony sex crime after allegedly assaulting former production assistant Haley and once-aspiring actress Jessica Mann.

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