Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction in New York has been overturned, on the basis that he did not receive a fair trial.
The New York Court of Appeals said prosecutors in the pivotal #MeToo case called witnesses whose accusations were not part of the charges against him.
The court said that meant he was unfairly tried for past behaviour, and ordered a new trial.
Weinstein, 72, remains in prison. He was separately convicted of rape in LA.
The Silence Breakers, a victims’ group, called the reversal “disheartening and profoundly unjust”, while lawyers for victims said the decision to retry was a “leap backwards” and “tragic”.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, hailed the reversal as a win for the legal system.
“There are still people who are very unpopular in our society, but we still have to apply the law fairly to them,” Mr Aidala said at a news conference in New York City.
“In this courthouse behind us, at that trial, the law was not applied fairly to Harvey Weinstein.”
In an interview with the New York Times, he said the decision was a victory “for every criminal defendant in the state of New York”.
