Harvey Weinstein's conviction is overturned by top New York court

New York's highest court on Thursday overturned the 2020 sex crimes conviction of former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, in the case that helped trigger the #MeToo movement.

In a 4-3 decision, the state Court of Appeals said the trial judge made a mistake by letting prosecutors introduce testimony from women who claimed that Weinstein assaulted them, even though they were not part of the charges he faced.

The appeals court also said the trial judge compounded the error by letting Weinstein be cross-examined in a way that portrayed him in a "highly prejudicial" light.

"The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial," the court said.

Weinstein has been serving a 23-year prison sentence for the conviction. He was separately sentenced last year in California to 16 years in prison for the 2013 rape of an actress in Los Angeles. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Susan Heavey; editing by Paul Grant and Jonathan Oatis)

Reuters