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Harvey Weinstein’s Lawyers Argue for New York Trial Do-Over

The convicted rapist who once ran Hollywood believes the judge overseeing the 2020 proceedings overstepped in allowing unrelated witnesses to testify and potentially letting his behavior be discussed.

Weinstein did not appear in the Albany Court of Appeals as his attorneys began to argue for the dismissal of his 2020 conviction, which amounted to a watershed moment as the #MeToo movement saw women worldwide come forward across multiple industries alleging sexual and other misdeeds from powerful men. Burke’s decisions “overwhelmed” Weinstein’s trial with “excessive, random, and highly dubious prior bad act evidence” that swayed the verdict for the prosecution, lawyers for the former mogul argued in court filings. Affirming the New York verdict in 2022, a five-judge panel of a state appeals court upheld the conviction and found that Burke “providently exercised’ his discretion while overseeing the trial.

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