New York court overturns Harvey Weinstein sex crime conviction

 Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

New York's highest court on Thursday overturned disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein's 2020 conviction on sex crime charges and ordered a new trial.

In their 4-3 decision, judges cited errors in the way the trial had been conducted, including admitting the testimony of women who were not part of the charges against him. "Order reversed and a new trial ordered," the ruling said.

Weinstein, 72, was convicted in February 2020 of rape and sexual assault by a court in New York, and later sentenced to 23 years in prison.

He was subsequently convicted and sentenced by a Los Angeles court to an additional 16 years in prison for the rape of a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel room.

Bombshell allegations broke against the Academy Award winning producer in 2017, launching the #MeToo movement and paving the way for hundreds of women to fight back against sexual violence in the workplace.

"With today's decision, this Court continues to thwart the steady gains survivors of sexual violence have fought for in our criminal justice system," one of the judges who dissented with the decision said.