A California appeals court on Friday upheld Harvey Weinstein's 2022 Los Angeles rape and sexual assault conviction but ruled that he must be resentenced, leaving the former film producer's guilt intact while reopening the question of how long he will serve.
A three-judge panel of California's Second District Court of Appeal issued the unanimous decision, ABC7 reported, rejecting the defense's bid for a new trial while ordering the trial court to hold a fresh sentencing hearing.
The Los Angeles conviction
Weinstein, 74, was convicted in December 2022 of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against an Italian model and actor identified at trial as Jane Doe 1. Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench sentenced him to 16 years in state prison.
On appeal, Weinstein's lawyers argued that Judge Lench had unfairly limited the testimony of the head of a film festival who had communicated with the accuser. The appellate panel was not persuaded that any error required overturning the conviction, but it concluded that the sentence could not stand and sent the case back to the trial court for resentencing. The practical effect of that hearing is uncertain: a new sentence could be longer, shorter, or the same.
Weinstein's spokesperson signaled the fight will continue. "This is not the end of the appellate process," the spokesperson said, adding that the defense intends to ask the California Supreme Court to review the case because it believes "significant legal errors affected the proceedings."
A separate turn in New York
The California ruling landed a day after a significant development on the other coast. New York prosecutors moved to drop a long-pending rape charge tied to accuser Jessica Mann, after she said she could not endure another trial. Weinstein's original 2020 New York conviction had been overturned on appeal in 2024, and subsequent retrials of the Mann charge ended without a verdict.
Dropping that charge does not free Weinstein. He was separately convicted in New York in 2025 of a sexual assault, and he awaits sentencing in that case. Prosecutors there have signaled they will seek a substantial prison term.
Still in custody
Weinstein, the former studio executive whose downfall in 2017 helped ignite the #MeToo movement, has been in continuous custody since 2020. Under the existing arrangement between the two states, he is expected to serve his New York penalty before beginning his California sentence — which, until the trial court acts, remains 16 years.
Friday's decision ensures that at least the Los Angeles case will return to court, first for resentencing and potentially before the California Supreme Court if the justices agree to take it up.
