‘WOEFULLY NEGLECTED’

Weinstein Appeals Conviction—and Whines Witnesses Made Him Seem ‘Loathsome’

“With a year behind us and emotions subsided, the transcript of the case confirms what we always believed: that Mr. Weinstein did not receive a fair trial,” his lawyer said.

Harvey Weinstein’s attorneys are appealing his conviction on the grounds that the court has “woefully neglected” the disgraced mogul’s right to a fair trial. In a 166-page appeal, the Wall Street Journal reports, Weinstein’s attorneys raise seven points. Among them, the lawyers argue that Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Burke should not have allowed testimony from four women whose allegations of sexual misconduct did not result in charges—which, the defense argued, “merely depicted Weinstein as loathsome.”

Last February, Weinstein, who has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex, was convicted of first-degree criminal sex act and third-degree rape, and sentenced to 23 years in prison. Arthur Aidala, one of his attorneys, told the Journal: “With a year behind us and emotions subsided, the transcript of the case confirms what we always believed: that Mr. Weinstein did not receive a fair trial... We have the utmost confidence that the Appellate Division will correct these mistakes and send this case back before a different judge.” A spokesman from the Manhattan district attorney’s office told the paper, “We will respond in our brief to the court.”