Harvey Weinstein should have his first rape conviction overturned because he was made a ‘poster boy’ for the MeToo movement, a court heard today.
The disgraced Hollywood producer’s lawyers made arguments to an appeal court on Valentine’s Day, claiming that he didn’t get a fair trial in New York in 2020.
Arthur Aidala claimed that Weinstein’s character rather than the evidence was the focus of the case.
The disgraced Hollywood producer’s lawyers made arguments to an appeal court on Valentine’s Day, claiming that he didn’t get a fair trial in New York in 2020.
The allegations amounted to a ‘man courting a woman’ because the relationships were consensual, Aidala told the appeal court in Albany, upstate New York.
Allowing three additional accusers to give evidence was wrong because Weinstein’s intent was clear, he claimed.
In an extraordinary moment, Aidala said: ‘What was his intent? It’s not to make macaroni and cheese, it’s to sexually assault her!’
Weinstein, 71, who is in poor health, is serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted of sex assault and rape during a trial in Manhattan in 2020.
Weinstein was jailed for another 16 years in February last year in Los Angeles after being convicted on three charges of rape and sexual assault.
Arthur Aidala, Weinstein’s lawyer, said his first rape conviction should be overturned because he was made a ‘poster boy’ for the movement, a court heard
Unless Weinstein, who once ruled Hollywood and won 81 Academy Awards, wins his appeals on both cases then he will likely die in jail.
The hearing took place 100 miles from the Mohawk Correctional Facility where Weinstein is serving his sentence.
Aidala told the court that the conviction was unfair because trial judge James Burke allowed in three other women as prior bad act witnesses, or Molyneaux witnesses.
He said that ‘our client did not get a fair trial’ and described the case as ‘basically a case of a man courting a woman’ because it was consensual.
In an extraordinary moment, Aidala said: ‘What was his intent? It’s not to make macaroni and cheese, it’s to sexually assault her!’
Allowing the additional witnesses ‘should not have been allowed’ because there was ‘no ambiguity’ about the alleged behaviour.
Raising his voice, Aidala, described how Mimi Haleyi, one of Weinstein’s victims, was ‘yelling and screaming no, no, no’.
Judge Madeline Singas responded: ‘Aren’t you fundamentally misunderstanding the nature of this sexual assault?’
Aidala said he wasn’t.
He said: ‘Because he (Weinstein) became the poster boy for a movement he’s held to a different standard’.
According to Aidala, it was Weinstein’s ‘character that was on trial, it wasn’t the evidence’.
Aidala insisted that it was a ‘textbook abuse of discretion’ to allow Haleyi to describe 10 other sex acts with Weinstein.
Aidala told the court that the conviction was unfair because trial judge James Burke allowed in three other women as prior bad act witnesses, or Molyneaux witnesses
Doing so made him look like a ‘bad guy’.
Aidala also objected to juror 11, who was writing a book about a predatory man while serving on the jury.
Raising his voice again, Aidala said: ‘We get more information this book is about a predatory man. he confront her with it and basically she says I lied. I was mistaken, I wasn’t sure, I didn’t know what you meant. It was a very simple question’.
Steven Wu, the Manhattan District Attorney’s chief of appeals, argued that Weinstein was in an ‘exalted’ position in Hollywood who abused that position.
‘He had a pattern where he would reach out to these women, make offers to these women….the repetition of the unlawful conduct makes an innocent explanation unlikely’.
Weinstein’s fall from grace began in 2017 amid the MeToo movement which took aim at high profile men who had a history of sexual misconduct
Wu said that the additional witnesses were brought in to show ‘young women were willing to have certain types of relationship with him and yet were not consenting to sexual acts’.
The judges will make their decision at a later date.
Weinstein’s fall from grace began in 2017 amid the MeToo movement which took aim at high profile men who had a history of sexual misconduct.
His trial in New York was arguably the most high profile and his conviction was seen as a watershed moment for women’s rights.
Among those who gave evidence at his trial in Los Angeles was Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California governor Gavin Newsom.
She who repeatedly broke down in tears while describing how Weinstein raped her at a hotel in Beverly Hills in 2005 when she was an aspiring actress.
During cross examination Weinstein’s lawyer Alan Werksman tried to claim that the accusers had consensual relationships with him to boost their careers, branding them ‘fame and fortune seekers’.
Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in February in his LA sexual assault case on top of his previous 23 year sentence for a rape conviction in New York City (NYC) and was originally at Wende Correctional (pictured)
He called Ms Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker, a ‘bimbo’ and said her frequent crying during her testimony was a ‘theatrical, overly dramatized performance’.
In another emotional moment, Aidala said he was ‘a little offended’ by Wu’s argument.
He said that it amounted to saying that ‘all women react the same way’ and that if a high school senior was rejected by a prom date, he should expect all other women to reject him too.
‘All women are different’, Aidala said. ‘That’s against humanity!’
Aidala claimed Weinstein was ‘begging to tell his side of the story’ until the judge allowed in the additional witnesses.
He went on: ‘They tried his character to the point where they stipped him naked and took pictures and handed it to the jury. Literally!’
During the trial the jury were indeed shown photos of Weinstein’s naked body, complete with blackheads, to corroborate his accusers.
Aidala said that the Manhattan District Attorney’s office set up a hotline for tips, calling it ‘1-800 Get Harvey’.
Urging the court to restore his faith in the justice system, he signed off with: ‘And your honours, happy Valentine’s Day’.