California Appeals Court Upholds Harvey Weinstein's 16-Year Prison Sentence

A California appeals court has upheld film producer Harvey Weinstein's 16-year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault, while ordering a resentencing due to improperly considered aggravating circumstances.

California Appeals Court Upholds Harvey Weinstein's 16-Year Prison Sentence

A California appeals court on Friday upheld film producer Harvey Weinstein's conviction and 16-year prison sentence for rape and sexual assault, while simultaneously ordering that the sentence be recalculated because the trial judge had improperly considered aggravating circumstances.

According to the Associated Press, a three-judge panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that the trial judge did not violate the defendant's constitutional rights. "We reject his attempts to undermine the jury's guilty verdicts," the judges wrote in their opinion.

However, the court determined that the sentence must be set anew because the New York convictions, which had been cited as an aggravating factor, were later overturned. The California Attorney General agreed with this position.

The decision came one day after New York prosecutors dropped plans for a fourth trial of Weinstein in one of the #MeToo-era cases, after the accuser stated she was unable to testify again. Nevertheless, the 74-year-old Weinstein still faces another sexual offense charge in New York, where he awaits a state court ruling scheduled for September.

In California, Weinstein was found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against Italian model and actress Yevgeniya Chernysheva. She testified that in 2013, during the LA Italia Film Festival, the producer entered her hotel room uninvited and committed a sexual assault.

The defense argued that the judge wrongly blocked the use of Facebook messages between Chernysheva and festival organizer Pascal Vicedomini, which the attorneys believed could have undermined the witness's credibility. Defense attorney Jennifer Bonjean stated that the lower court "effectively deprived Mr. Weinstein of the ability to defend himself."

The appeals court disagreed, ruling that the defense could present its arguments based on other evidence, and that the excluded materials violated California laws restricting the use of a complainant's sexual history. The court also upheld the admission of testimony from other women describing sexual assaults, even though those incidents were not included in the indictment.

Weinstein spokesman Juda Engelmayer told the AP that the defense was disappointed with the ruling and intends to appeal to the California Supreme Court, maintaining that "substantial legal errors affected the proceedings."

Source: Polish Press Agency (PAP)

Source: Google News PL — Crime (pl)