California appeals court orders Weinstein resentencing for sex assault

LOS ANGELES - A California appeals court on June 26 upheld the conviction of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein for rape and sexual assault, but vacated his 16-year prison term and said he must be resentenced.

The decision from the three-judge panel came in relation to Weinstein’s conviction in 2022 for the 2013 rape and assault of an actress in a Los Angeles hotel room.

“The sentence is vacated and the matter is remanded for re-sentencing,” said an online docket update posted on June 26 by the California 2nd District Court of Appeal. “In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed.”

The full ruling was not made available and it was not immediately clear on what basis it had been made.

The decision came one day after prosecutors in New York said they would drop a sex assault case against Weinstein over an alleged 2013 attack on an aspiring actress after three trials fell apart.

The now-74-year-old Oscar winner is still awaiting sentencing in New York for sexually assaulting former Project Runway assistant Miriam Haley.

Weinstein once ruled Hollywood as a producer powerful enough to make or break projects – and careers.

But after years of rumors, 2017 investigations by The New Yorker and The New York Times exposed a raft of abusive behavior and prompted an avalanche of allegations from more than 80 people.

The ensuing furor snowballed into the global Me Too movement and a reckoning that rocked the world of entertainment, with multiple men called to account for abusing their positions to exploit young women in the industry. AFP