Harvey Weinstein’s Lawyer Says Overturned Rape Conviction Is a ‘Great Day for America’

Brian Welk
·3 min read

Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer called the disgraced producer’s overturned convictions a “great day for America” and said that Weinstein intends to take the witness stand once the charges are inevitably re-tried.

“Harvey Weinstein did not get a fair trial,” Arthur Aidala, one of Weinstein’s attorneys, told press outside Manhattan’s Criminal Courts building on Thursday. “It may sound like exaggeration but it’s not: Today’s legal ruling is a great day for America because it instills in us the faith that there is a justice system.”

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He continued, alluding to Donald Trump’s ongoing hush money trial in New York: “Whether it’s a former president of the United States or the most-storied Hollywood producer of our generation, the law applies to everyone.”

Aidala added that should Weinstein be re-tried in New York, Weinstein will be itching to take the witness stand. “He’s been dying to tell his story from Day 1,” he said.

Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction on April 25 was overturned by New York’s top appeals court, with the court finding “egregious errors” in the original trial. In a slim 4-3 majority, the court found that the lower court should not have allowed testimony from three women speaking to “uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts” that were unrelated to the rape charge. Weinstein’s attorneys argued the Miramax founder could not take the stand in his defense on the actual charges without also being cross-examined on the uncharged accusations.

“This was a case about perversion, well, in that courthouse at trial, the laws were perverted because there was so much pressure because Harvey was the face of this movement that he had to be convicted under any circumstances — even if you have to throw the rulebook out the window,” Aidala said.

Aidala told press Weinstein, who is currently in New York but still faces 16 years of prison time in Los Angeles after being found guilty for a separate rape trial in 2022, reacted to the news graciously.

“Harvey was very gracious. Very grateful,” Aidala said. “He called me actually three times (today). Look, he’s in a horrible place, in a horrible situation, but the human spirit is strong. So he has done the best he can… to make the best out of a horrible situation.”

Aidala said he also got a “classy” phone call from the now-retired former prosecutor of the New York Weinstein case. Should Weinstein be re-tried in New York, he will face a new prosecutor.

According to the New York appeals court’s ruling, “the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,” and added that “the remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial.”

In their dissenting opinion, the three judges who voted against overturning the conviction said the court’s ruling continues “a disturbing trend of overturning juries’ guilty verdicts in cases involving sexual violence.” Bill Cosby became a free man after his conviction was overturned back in 2021.

“Men who serially sexually exploit their power over women — especially the most vulnerable groups in society — will reap the benefit of today’s decision,” Judge Madeline Singas wrote in the dissent.

The New York conviction on charges of forcibly performing oral sex on a production assistant in 2006 and rape in the third degree of an aspiring actress in 2013 had carried with it a 23-year sentence.

Weinstein maintains his innocence on the charges. Weinstein became the main figure in the #MeToo movement in Hollywood, with women coming forward about Weinstein’s alleged (in some cases, proven in others) sexual misbehavior. Dozens of women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct; not all have sought charges.

Reporting by Tony Maglio

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