New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said her house is still considering a bill that would close loopholes in the state’s sexual assault laws that helped lead to a reversal of the rape conviction of former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
In late April, the state’s highest court overturned Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction on a legal technicality.
The Court of Appeals judges determined that the trial judge allowed testimony against Weinstein that included allegations from three women about other sexual assaults that were not part of the case that was being tried.
In a 4-to-3 decision, the court said allowing the testimony was a “an abuse of judicial discretion.” The court did not exonerate Weinstein’s behavior.
In response, Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris and Assemblywoman Amy Paulin introduced a bill that would allow evidence of previous sex crimes to be admitted in sexual assault trials to show the accused’s propensity to commit that act.
“We think this is critical to provide justice for survivors of sexual assaults and rapes in our state,” Gianaris said on May 9. “And hopefully we'll be able to get there sooner than later because we've already seen the consequences of a muddled state of the law as it exists today.”
Stewart-Cousins said her Democratic members are going to decide whether to pass the measure before the session ends in early June.
“Obviously, if we're able to get it past the finish line within the next two weeks, and we think it will be helpful, we would certainly do that,” she said.
But defendants’ rights groups, including the Legal Aid Society, say the bill is “overly broad” and could lead to more wrongful convictions that could disproportionately harm Black and Latino New Yorkers.
Stewart-Cousins — who helped shepherd in new laws that strengthened defendants’ rights, including the 2019 bail reform laws — said those concerns will be considered when the members meet to discuss the measure.
“People are very concerned, if there is a loophole that would allow for the courts to feel there's some flexibility in decision making, that we could close, I believe our conference is very interested in addressing that issue,” she said.
If lawmakers approve the bill, the new statute could apply to future court action against Weinstein. The Manhattan district attorney has said he plans to retry the case.
Closing the loophole is not the only measure not yet settled as the 2024 session draws to a close.
Senators approved a package of anti-domestic violence bills, but they said the State Assembly, also led by Democrats, has not yet agreed to them.
Other items include whether to cut plastic packaging by 50% over the next decade, expand the state’s bottle deposit law, and regulate children’s access to social media platforms.
