Fallen Hollywood movie producer, ex-almighty Harvey Weinstein, whose sex crimes sparked the #MeToo movement in 2017, had his appeal dismissed on Thursday after his 2020 conviction in New York for sexual assault and rape .In a unanimous decision, five judges of the New York Court of Appeals upheld the guilty verdict in February 2020 and the sentence in March of the same year to twenty-three years of criminal imprisonment for an assault sexual assault in 2006 and rape in 2013. The appeal was announced in February 2020 but only filed in April 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The defense argued that the jury at the time in the Manhattan court had been influenced by the testimony at trial of women who were not part of the prosecution case. The judges rejected these elements, finding that these witnesses had brought to the justice of “useful information” allowing jurors to “fully understand the dynamic” which operated between Harvey Weinstein and his victims. Weinstein – said he was “satisfied with today’s decision upholding a major conviction that has changed the way prosecutors and courts approach the complexity of prosecuting sexual predators.” The revelations and the producer’s downfall, from October 2017, had triggered the global #MeToo movement to raise awareness and fight women against sexual assault and crimes. The 70-year-old man is currently incarcerated in a California prison where he awaits a new trial for alleged sexual assaults against five women. He will plead not guilty and has always claimed that his victims were consenting. In total, some 90 women, including superstars Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Salma Hayek, have accused Harvey Weinstein of harassment or sexual assault.
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