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Court upholds Harvey Weinstein's 2022 rape conviction

A US court has upheld Harvey Weinstein's 2022 rape and sexual assault conviction. (AP PHOTO)

An appeals court has upheld Harvey Weinstein's 2022 rape and sexual assault conviction in California, but ordered his trial judge to resentence him.

A three-judge panel from the California's 2nd District Court of Appeal unanimously issued the decision on Friday.

It came a day after prosecutors in New York decided Weinstein would not face a fourth trial there, dropping the #MeToo-era case on Thursday after the accuser said she could not bear to testify again.

The former Hollywood movie magnate still stands convicted of another sexual felony in New York, and he remains behind bars. But the New York rape charge had remained unresolved after an overturned conviction followed by two hung juries.

Harvey Weinstein
Weinstein is awaiting a September sentencing in New York. (EPA PHOTO)

In California, Weinstein, 74, was convicted in December 2022 of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against an Italian model and actor known during the trial as Jane Doe 1. Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

In his appeal, Weinstein's lawyers argued that in his Los Angeles County trial, the testimony of the head of a film festival was unfairly limited by Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench, and had been seeking a new trial.

In New York, Weinstein is awaiting a September sentencing on his still-standing assault conviction involving a different woman. Prosecutors are seeking a 20-year prison term. He would serve his California sentence only after that.

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