Hervey Weinstein, the former Hollywood "kingmaker" sentenced in March 2020 to 23 years in prison for sexual assault, appealed Monday.

The ex-producer believes that his defense has not been respected.

His lawyers argue that several women were allowed to testify at trial even though the facts put forward were prescribed or insufficiently substantiated to be able to be prosecuted, according to the defense.  

The former film producer Harvey Weinstein, sentenced in March 2020 to 23 years in prison for sexual assault and imprisoned since, appealed against this sentence on Monday, believing that his rights of defense have not been respected.

In an appeal filed Monday with the Supreme Court of the State of New York, his lawyers argue that several women were allowed to testify at trial about alleged assaults of Harvey Weinstein, even as the facts put forward were prescribed or insufficiently substantiated to be prosecutable, according to the defense.

Accused of sexual harassment or assault by nearly 90 women

Six women had testified for the prosecution at the high-profile New York City trial, claiming the ex-Hollywood mogul sexually assaulted them.

If Harvey Weinstein was accused of harassment or sexual assault by nearly 90 women, he was however only prosecuted for two assaults during the hearings: a rape of an aspiring actress, Jessica Mann, in 2013, and forced cunnilingus on a former production assistant, Mimi Haleyi, in 2006.

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One of the jurors would have compromised the impartiality of the jury according to the producer's lawyers

In their 166-page appeal, lawyers for Harvey Weinstein also argue that one of the jurors, author of a book about men with predatory behavior on young women, had compromised the supposed impartiality of the jury.

They also deplored not being able to call their expert in sexual assault to the bar, even though the defense had been able to quote Barbara Ziv.

While the two victims continued to have relations with Harvey Weinstein after their assaults, this doctor had explained at length to jurors that victims of sexual assault often continued to date their attacker.

An "excessively heavy" sentence 

The defense also affirms that the judge imposed on the ex-producer, with a clean criminal record until then, an "excessively heavy" sentence because of his fame and the media coverage of the case.

Harvey Weinstein was finally convicted of rape and sexual assault in February 2020, in a verdict seen as a resounding victory for the #MeToo movement.

The 69-year-old ex-producer, incarcerated in a high-security prison in upstate New York, has also been charged with rape and sexual assault on five women by the Los Angeles attorney's office.

A hearing to find out whether he should be extradited to answer these charges is scheduled for April 12.