HARVEY WEINSTEIN - WHAT'S NEXT AFTER A SHOCKING COURT DECISION?

AS A NEW YORK COURT OVERTURNS THE MOVIE MOGUL'S RAPE CONVICTION, WOMEN WHO CAME FORWARD SHARE THEIR OUTRAGE AND ANGUISH

- K.C. BAKER

Former TV production assistant Mimi Haley thought a painful chapter of her life had come to an end in 2020 when a jury convicted disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein of sexually assaulting her and raping actor Jessica Mann and a judge sentenced him to 23 years in prison.

Testifying in court about how the once-powerful studio boss had forcibly performed oral sex was "re-traumatizing, exhausting and terrifying," Haley says. But in the end, joining other women who made accusations against Weinstein and helping to launch the #MeToo movement was worth it. "There was a ripple effect across the globe, which gave hope and courage to women and men and set a precedent for similar cases," says Haley.

That is all now in question. On April 25 the New York Court of Appeals overturned Weinstein's conviction after ruling that the former movie mogul, 72, did not get a fair trial. In a 4-3 decision, New York State's highest court determined that trial judge James Burke had erred when he allowed three women whose allegations were not a part of the criminal case against Weinstein to testify about the defendant's "prior bad acts."

The appeals court deemed that testimony prejudicial and said it had opened the door for prosecutors to question Weinstein about his past behavior if he took the stand. (He did not testify.) "The remedy for these egregious errors," appeals court judge Jenny Rivera wrote for the majority, "is a new trial."