New York's highest court has overturned Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's 2020 sentence on sexual assault charges and ordered a new trial.
In their 4-3 decision, the justices cited errors in the way the trial was conducted, including the admission of testimony from women who were not part of the charges against him. "The judgment is set aside and a new trial is ordered," the ruling said, AFP reported.
In February 2020, the 72-year-old Weinstein was found guilty by a New York court of rape and sexual assault, and was later sentenced to 23 years in prison.
He was subsequently found guilty and sentenced by a Los Angeles court to another 16 years in prison for raping a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel room.
In 2017, bombshell allegations erupted against the Oscar-winning producer, which launched the #MeToo movement and paved the way for hundreds of women to fight back against sexual violence in the workplace.
"With today's decision, this court continues to thwart the robust gains that survivors of sexual violence have fought for in our criminal justice system," said one of the justices dissenting from the decision. / BGNES
