New Witness Bill Could Doom Harvey Weinstein at Retrial
The reversal of Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction was a gut punch to the accusers who testified at his trial. But as prosecutors prepare to retry him, a new bill making its way through the New York state legislature could give them a powerful weapon.
The bill, introduced by state Assemblymember Amy Paulin, would allow evidence of prior bad acts to be admitted in sexual assault trials—the kind of evidence that led the New York Court of Appeals to toss out Weinstein’s guilty verdict last month.
Survivors hope the bill would allow witnesses who say Weinstein assaulted them to testify again, even though he is not charged with crimes related to those incidents.