Harvey Weinstein allowed to appeal rape conviction, Mario Batali settles lawsuits

NEW YORK • New York state's highest court has agreed to allow former movie producer Harvey Weinstein to appeal his rape and sexual assault conviction, offering him a distant chance of being granted a new trial.

Chief Judge Janet DiFiore "granted leave to appeal" on Aug 19, the court wrote in a letter dated Monday that was sent to Weinstein's lawyers, and reviewed by Reuters on Wednesday.

The letter did not detail what grounds may have led to the decision and it has no bearing on further rape charges against him in California.

Upon weighing arguments from Weinstein's lawyers and prosecutors, the court can uphold the conviction or order a new trial.

Last June, a lower appeals court upheld the conviction, rejecting arguments that the Manhattan trial judge made several errors that tainted the trial.

The bar for ordering a new trial is high, but Weinstein was "relieved at this decision", said one of his lawyers, Mr Arthur Aidala, after speaking with his client in prison.

"He's hopeful that the court is going to find that he did not receive a fair trial and reverse his conviction. And, as he has consistently, he maintained his innocence," Mr Aidala said.

Weinstein, 70, a Hollywood power broker who produced Pulp Fiction (1994), Shakespeare In Love (1998) and Gangs Of New York (2002), became one of the most prominent targets of the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements that alleged sexual abuse at the highest levels of corporate America, entertainment and the media.

In February 2020, a Manhattan jury found Weinstein guilty of raping a former aspiring actress and sexually assaulting a production assistant.

A judge sentenced him to 23 years in prison.

Weinstein is jailed in California, where he was extradited last year and awaits trial on 11 charges of misconduct towards five women between 2004 and 2013.

He has pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, celebrity chef Mario Batali, 61, has agreed to settle lawsuits by two women alleging he sexually assaulted them in separate encounters in Boston, one of whose accusations were the focus of a #MeToo-era criminal prosecution that ended in his acquittal.

Lawyers for Ms Natali Tene, whose claims were at the heart of Batali's trial in May, and Ms Alexandra Brown confirmed late on Tuesday they had resolved their separate lawsuits in state court in Boston against Batali.

"The matters have been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties," attorneys Eric Baum and Matthew Fogelman said in a joint statement. "We cannot comment further due to confidentiality obligations."

The docket in Ms Tene's case showed that a hearing set for Tuesday was recently called off because the case had been settled.

Batali's lawyer Anthony Fuller did not respond to requests for comment.

Ms Tene's claims formed the basis of the only criminal case to result from various #MeToo-era allegations of sexual harassment and assault by women against Batali, once a fixture of Food Network and a star of the ABC cooking and talk show The Chew.

Ms Tene, 32, had said Batali in 2017 groped her breasts, buttocks and crotch area and forcibly kissed her while drunkenly posing for selfies with her at a bar near Boston's Eataly, the Italian market and restaurant that at the time he partly owned.

She filed a civil lawsuit against him in 2018.

Batali was charged in 2019 with indecent assault and battery.

His lawyers argued that Ms Tene fabricated the story to win a monetary settlement.

After a non-jury trial, a judge acquitted Batali, saying Ms Tene had "significant credibility issues" and that her photos did not back her claims.

Ms Tene's lawyers also represented Ms Brown, who separately sued Batali in 2019 and accused him of similarly sexually assaulting her while posing for selfies at a different Boston restaurant in 2016.

REUTERS