Local advocates react to overturned Weinstein conviction

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — New York’s highest court overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction Thursday. reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era.

Local advocates, like those with Sojourner House, have said the decision may impact how survivors come forward in the future.

“This could very well have an implication where survivors feel hesitant to come forward because it requires so much emotional strength and personal sacrifice to report this kind of abuse and to go through the legal system and to tell your story multiple times,” Executive Director Vanessa Volz said.

The New York appeals court said that certain evidence in the trial should not have been admitted, and the case can be retried in the future, and victims will need to re-testify.

“They are not making a claim whether or not Weinstein actually committed sexual assault,” Volz said. “This case with overturning Weinstein’s conviction really just shows that we really have so much work to do as a society to take survivor’s stories seriously and to give them justice when they deserve it.”

Volz added that agencies like Sojourner House can provide assistance when anyone needs to come forward to disclose an incident.

Weinstein will remain in prison because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape.

The New York District Attorney’s Office has also signaled its intention to retry Weinstein.