Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers claim Bill Cosby’s release from prison means producer will be cleared too

Harvey Weinstein‘s lawyers have said that Bill Cosby‘s sexual assault conviction being overturned ‘reaffirms our confidence’ that the disgraced movie producer will be cleared too.

Attorney Arthur Aidala told DailyMail.com that Wednesday’s decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court showed that courts could ‘come to the correct decision’ if allowed to. 

Aidala said that he was sure that the Appellate Division in New York, where Weinstein lodged his appeal against his conviction and 23 year jail sentence, will be overturned because of the ‘abundance of issues that cry out for a reversal’.

Weinstein, 69, was found guilty in February 2000 after a two month trial in what was seen as a landmark case in the #MeToo movement.

Apart from Cosby, 83, Weinstein was the most high profile person found guilty in court following the wave of allegations of sexual misconduct against powerful men.

Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction was overturned by Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court on Wednesday

Cosby’s conviction was overturned in part because of concern about the decision by the trial judge to allow five other accusers to testify about their experiences with Cosby in the 1980s.

Attorney Arthur Aidala said that the decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court showed that courts could ‘come to the correct decision’ if allowed to

The women were brought to the court to establish what prosecutors said was a pattern of behavior on Cosby’s part.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices voiced concern not just about sex assault cases, but what they saw as the judiciary’s increasing tendency to allow testimony that crosses the line into character attacks.

In Weinstein’s case the judge allowed women whose allegations did not make up the charges to testify under a similar arrangement.

In a statement, Aidala said: ‘In reversing the conviction of Bill Cosby, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has demonstrated, once again, that no matter who a defendant may be and no matter the nature of the crime, courts can be relied upon to follow the law and come to the correct decision.

‘This decision also reaffirms our confidence that the Appellate Division in New York will reach the similarly correct decision in Harvey Weinstein’s appeal, considering the abundance of issues that cry out for a reversal’.

Weinstein was convicted of one count of criminal sexual act on former production assistant Mimi Haleyi, for which he could be jailed for up to 25 years.

He was also found guilty of one count of third degree rape in relation to Jessica Mann, who was an aspiring actress at the time.

Weinstein, 69, was found guilty in February 2000 after a two month trial in what was seen as a landmark case in the #MeToo movement

Among the other women who gave evidence against Weinstein, even though he was not criminally charged for their allegations, was Sopranos actress Anabella Sciorra

Among the other women who gave evidence against Weinstein, even though he was not criminally charged for their allegations, was Sopranos actress Anabella Sciorra.

She alleged that Weinstein barged into her apartment in the winter of 1993-1994 and raped her despite her telling him to stop.

Weinstein is currently serving his sentence at the Wende Correctional facility in upstate New York.

Earlier this month a judge approved his extradition to Los Angeles where he faces nearly a dozen sex crimes.

LA prosecutors have accused him of 11 felony counts of sexual assault, including forcible rape, against five women dating back to 2004.

He has pleaded not guilty to all the allegations.

Weinstein’s appeal to his New York conviction ran to 166 pages and cited a number of ‘errors’ that meant the trial was unfair.

The document said that the trial was ‘tainted by a single juror who demonstrated a strong and disqualifying bias in favor of the prosecution’ because she was writing a book about sexual harassment of younger women by older men.

The document also claimed that the testimony of women like Sciorra unfairly influenced the jury.