Harvey Weinstein's defense attorney says movie mogul was 'shaken' by severity of sentence
The judge essentially gave Harvey Weinstein a life sentence, says attorney Donna Rotunno.
Harvey Weinstein's legal team argued for an appeal of his 2020 rape conviction in the Court of Appeals in Albany, New York, on Wednesday.
Weinstein's lawyer, Arthur Aidala, pleaded with the court, "Our client did not get a fair trial."
The disgraced movie mogul was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being convicted in February 2020 of forcing oral sex on TV and film production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006 and third-degree rape of hairstylist Jessica Mann in 2013.
HARVEY WEINSTEIN'S APPEAL BLAMING ‘ME TOO’ FOR CONVICTION IS ‘DESPERATE’ LAST-DITCH ATTEMPT: EXPERT
"The appeals court judges seemed concerned with the introduction of the Sandoval ruling that essentially precluded Harvey Weinstein from taking the stand in his defense," Weinstein's representative, Juda Engelmayer, told Fox News Digital after the court appearance.
"They were also concerned with the manner Juror No. 11 presented the facts of her book and research. We are hopeful that our arguments lead to the proper outcome: a decision that Harvey didn't get a fair trial."
Harvey Weinstein's legal team argues that the disgraced movie mogul didn't receive a fair trial. (Scott Heins)
"The court was concerned with several critical issues that made it clear that Mr. Weinstein did not get a fair trial, and we are cautiously optimistic that Harvey Weinstein's conviction will be overturned," Aidla told Fox News Digital following the appeal.
Aidala argued there was "nothing ambiguous about the actual crime itself" but that Weinstein, as a person, was put on trial. He said that evidence submitted to the jury of additional alleged instances of sexual abuse had "nothing to do" with the case.
"It's just a bad act. He's just a bad guy," Aidala said. "It was his character that was on trial, it wasn't the evidence that was on trial."
He added, "This trial, they tried his character to the point where they stripped him naked — literally — and took pictures and handed it to the jury in a case where identification, nothing meant nothing. Why was the jury looking at naked pictures of him? They had a hotline, your honor, after he was arrested for the first time ever. It wasn't a tip line, like we have a crime. Who did it? They had him. The chief of the Manhattan DA's office held a press conference. Call us if you know anything bad about this guy. 1-800-Get-Harvey."
Aidala filed an appeal for a new trial in January 2023, arguing Weinstein didn't receive a "fair trial" due to "legally insufficient charges."
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being convicted in February 2020. (Seth Wenig)
New York State Supreme Court Justice James Burke determined how long the former Hollywood titan would spend in prison for his crimes in New York. Weinstein's legal team has raised issues with Burke's handling of the case and ruling on evidence and a juror who wrote a novel about predatory older men.
"Harvey is innocent and never should have been convicted or even tried for these allegations," Engelmayer told Fox News Digital before the appeal hearing. "The trial failed at objectivity from the minute former Judge Burke berated Harvey, asking him if he wanted to spend the rest of his life in prison over the use of a cellphone that occurred before the judge ever entered the courtroom or began the day's proceedings."
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"Burke was rejected from the bench as a result, and the case should have been, too. From the lies a juror told to private lawyers representing non-case-related complainants acting as prosecutorial surrogates, as we were often gagged, the jury was steered in a direction they never would have gone in if it were honest," he said.
The disgraced movie mogul was extradited to California in 2021 to face 11 sexual assault counts made by four women in Los Angeles between 2004 and 2013. (Etienne Laurent)
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After Weinstein's sentencing in New York, he was extradited to California in July 2021 to face sexual assault allegations made by four women in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills between 2004 and 2013.
In December 2022, Weinstein was found guilty of rape, forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count involving a woman known as Jane Doe 1. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in February 2023. Weinstein's legal team has vowed to appeal the conviction.
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