After Weinstein’s case was overturned, New York lawmakers move to strengthen sex crime prosecutions

By ANTHONY IZAGUIRRE
Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York lawmakers may soon change the legal standard that allowed Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction to be overturned, with momentum building behind a bill to strengthen sexual assault prosecutions after the disgraced movie mogul’s case was tossed. The state’s highest court late last month threw out Weinstein’s conviction in a ruling that said a trial judge wrongly allowed women to testify about allegations that weren’t part of his criminal charges. Two weeks later, lawmakers are pushing a bill that would allow courts to admit evidence that a defendant in a sex crimes case committed other sexual offenses.