US appeals court orders Harvey Weinstein's resentencing

A California appeals court on Friday upheld the conviction of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein for rape and sexual assault, but vacated his 16-year prison term and said he must be resentenced.

The decision from the three-judge panel came in relation to Weinstein's conviction in 2022 for the 2013 rape and assault of an actress in a Los Angeles hotel room.

"The sentence is vacated and the matter is remanded for re-sentencing," said an online docket update posted Friday by the California 2nd District Court of Appeal. "In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed."

The full ruling was not made available and it was not immediately clear on what basis it had been made.

The decision came one day after prosecutors in New York said they would drop a sex assault case against Weinstein over an alleged 2013 attack on an aspiring actress after three trials fell apart.

The now-74-year-old Oscar winner is still awaiting sentencing in New York for sexually assaulting former "Project Runway" assistant Miriam Haley.

Weinstein once ruled Hollywood as a producer powerful enough to make or break projects -- and careers.

But after years of rumors, 2017 investigations by The New Yorker and The New York Times exposed a raft of abusive behavior and prompted an avalanche of allegations from more than 80 people.

The ensuing furor snowballed into the global Me Too movement and a reckoning that rocked the world of entertainment with multiple men called to account for abusing their positions to exploit young women in the industry.

In October 2017, following sexual abuse allegations dating back to the late 1970s, Weinstein was dismissed from his company and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. More than 80 women made allegations of sexual harassment or rape against him by October 31. The allegations sparked the #MeToo social media campaign and subsequent sexual abuse allegations against many powerful figures worldwide; this phenomenon is referred to as the "Weinstein effect".

In May 2018, Weinstein was arrested and charged with rape in New York City; in February 2020, he was found guilty of two of five felony counts. Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison, and began serving his sentence. On July 20, 2021, Weinstein was extradited to Los Angeles to face further charges at a subsequent trial, where he was found guilty of three of seven charges on December 19, 2022. Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in the Los Angeles trial, with his California prison term required to be served separately from his New York sentence. AFP