California
Here’s why Weinstein’s conviction in California stands a better chance
Harvey Weinstein may be getting a new trial in New York after the state’s highest court tossed out his 2020 felony sex crime conviction. But his case in California likely won’t face the same fate, according to Los Angeles prosecutors and legal experts.
In December of 2022, a Los Angeles jury found Weinstein guilty of several counts of sexual assault and was sentenced to 16 years in prison two months later.
The major difference between the two cases is how each state handles the admission of evidence of uncharged allegations.
In California, state law allows the admission of allegations of sexual offenses not listed in the indictment — specifically in sex crime cases, in accordance with California Evidence Code section 1108. Prosecutors can bring forth evidence of a defendant’s past sexual misconduct, calling in witnesses whose accusations are not part of the charges against the defendant.
But in New York, no such law exists. In fact, the state specifically bars the admission of such evidence.
In its 4-3 decision Thursday, the state’s Court of Appeals described the allowance of such evidence during Weinstein’s trial as a series of “egregious errors.” In addition to several uncharged allegations of sexual misconduct, the Manhattan District Attorney brought forth evidence of things like Weinstein allegedly threatening violence against people who worked for him or photoshopping a female actor’s head onto another woman’s nude body.
The New York appeals court described such evidence as “irrelevant, prejudicial, and untested,” portraying him in a “highly prejudicial light” while trying him on charges of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape.
New York state law bars the admission of evidence of prior uncharged crimes or allegations in accordance with the “Molineux rule,” named after the landmark People vs. Molineux case. An appeals court acquitted Roland Burnham Molineux of murder in a ruling that established the “Molineux rule” as a constitutional safeguard protecting a defendant from the assumption of guilt because they committed other, similar crimes in the past.
In a statement, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said it was “saddened” by the New York appeals court’s decision. However, the DA’s office noted how the New York case is different from the one in California.
“The legal issues identified by the New York Court of Appeal are not present in the Los Angeles County case,” the DA’s office said.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, applauded the overturning of his New York conviction in accordance with state law.
“We knew Harvey Weinstein did not get a fair trial,” Aidala said during a news conference Thursday afternoon. “There are some people who are unpopular in society but we still have to apply the law fairly.”
Weinstein is currently incarcerated in New York at the Mohawk Correctional Facility.
On Friday, Gloria Allred called the conviction reversal a “cry out” for changes to New York state law. She called for a similar law as the one in California during a news conference alongside her client, Mimi Haley, one of the victims in the New York case.
“In California, we have a specific statute,” Allred said, referring to Evidence Code section 1108, which allows such evidence in sex crime cases.
“I think it’s important for the New York legislature to pass a specific statute in New York, which more clearly defines the admission of prior bad acts, witnesses and their testimony in New York — and is more protective of victims’ rights,” Allred said.
Haley said hard evidence including witnesses corroborating her allegation against Weinstein should be enough to prove his guilt. Weinstein was convicted of forcibly performing oral sex on her at his New York apartment in 2006. The appeals court tossed out the conviction for that crime but did not appeal Weinstein’s third-degree rape charge involving another victim.
But Haley said evidence of Weinstein’s other alleged sexual misconduct should be considered relevant — whether or not he was actually charged for it.
“I personally do think it’s important information to know about somebody’s character and their pattern,” Haley said.
Allred said the conviction reversal could have a chilling effect on victims, making them more reluctant to come forward and testify before a jury. Meanwhile, prosecutors could decide against filing charges for fear of making too weak of a case, particularly when dealing with defendants who have the kind of resources and legal representation as Weinstein, she said.
“They may feel that it’s more difficult without (evidence of) prior bad acts to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore, they may decide not to charge the defendant or seek to indict at all — especially in high profile cases against the rich, the famous the powerful, well-connected defendants.”
While saying she does have some reservations, Haley said she would “consider” testifying against Weinstein in a new trial. She said preparing for the trial took two years and she faced harassment, but she wants to keep “speaking truth to power.”
“It’s a crucial moment in history to keep going and to keep standing up for truth,” she said.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In the wide-open race for California governor, billionaire Tom Steyer is on a spending binge.
The hedge fund manager-turned-liberal activist is using his personal fortune to saturate TV screens and mobile phones with advertising, while his competitors accuse him of trying to use his vast wealth to buy the state’s most powerful job.
Steyer’s ads — in which he promises to bring down household costs or rails against federal immigration raids — appear inescapable at times in heavily Democratic Los Angeles, the state’s largest media market. Data compiled by advertising tracker AdImpact show Steyer has spent or booked over $115 million in ads for broadcast TV, cable and radio — nearly 30 times the amount of his nearest Democratic rival.
If he makes it through the June 2 primary election, Steyer could easily eclipse the 2010 record set by Republican Meg Whitman, who spent $178.5 million in a losing bid for governor, much of it her own money. At the time, it was the costliest campaign for statewide office in the nation’s history.
Even when ad buys from all his major competitors are combined, along with ad purchases by independent committees supporting candidates, Steyer is outspending the field by tens of millions of dollars.
“Billionaire money is flooding our state in an attempt to buy this election,” former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, one of Steyer’s chief rivals, warned her supporters this month.
Mail-in ballots are set to go out to voters next month. Steyer is among a crowd of candidates hoping to seize a spotlight after former Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell’s dramatic departure from the race following sexual assault allegations that he denies.
But while Steyer has ticked up in polling amid his spending splurge, he has not broken away from the field, leaving some wondering if he’s getting value for his dollars.
“If your first round of ads doesn’t move you dramatically (in the polls), the third, fourth, fifth, six, seventh and eighth rounds won’t either,” said veteran Democratic strategist Bill Carrick, who for years advised the late Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. “There is something inherently holding Steyer back.”
In recent prior campaigns for governor, at this stage a leading candidate was taking control of the race. This year, voters appear to be shrugging at a contest that lacks a star candidate among seven leading Democrats and two Republicans.
“Somehow the campaign is frozen,” Carrick added.
History shows that money doesn’t always translate into votes.
Billionaire developer Rick Caruso spent over $100 million in 2022 in his bid to become Los Angeles mayor, much of it his own money, but he was handily defeated by Mayor Karen Bass, who spent a fraction of Caruso’s total. Billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spent more than $1 billion of his own money on his 2020 presidential bid before dropping out. And Steyer’s money was unable to lift him into contention in the 2020 presidential contest, when he dropped out early in the year after a poor finish in the South Carolina primary.
Steyer has never held elected office.
In a 2019 interview with The Associated Press, Steyer was asked what he would say to people who think he’s trying to buy the presidency.
“I don’t think that’s possible,” Steyer said at the time, before adding, “I’m never going to apologize for succeeding in business. That’s America, right?”
His campaign did not respond directly when asked about similar criticism facing his run for governor.
“Tom now stands as the only Democrat with the grassroots energy, institutional backing and resources to advance to the general election,” spokesperson Kevin Liao said in a statement.
The governor’s race was recently reordered by two developments: Swalwell, a leading Democrat, abruptly withdrew from the race then resigned from Congress, following sexual assault allegations. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump endorsed conservative commentator Steve Hilton.
Still, there is no clear leader.
Polling in late March and early April by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found a cluster of candidates in close competition: Democrats Steyer and Porter, Republicans Hilton and Chad Bianco, and Swalwell. Other candidates were trailing. The polling was conducted before Swalwell withdrew.
Democrats have feared the party’s large number of candidates could lead to them getting shut out of the general election in November. That’s because California has a primary system in which only the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party.
Leading Democrats are all claiming to have picked up support since Swalwell’s exit. Steyer nabbed one plum endorsement, when the influential California Teachers Association, which previously backed Swalwell, recommended him.
In his ads, Steyer promises to “abolish” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been staging raids across California. In another, he laments the state’s punishing cost of housing, “Everybody needs an affordable place to live,” he says.
Rapper was stabbed 16 times by fellow inmate in May 2025 while 10-year sentence in Megan Thee Stallion shooting case
Tory Lanez has filed a $100 million lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections stemming from a May 2025 incident where the rapper was stabbed in prison.
Lanez — born Daystar Peterson and currently serving a 10-year sentence after being found guilty in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting case — also sued the warden and guards at the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, where the rapper was stabbed 16 times in an “unprovoked life-threatening attack” by another inmate, the lawsuit states.
Peterson was hospitalized following the May 2025 incident, suffering a collapsed lung among stab wounds to his back, torso, and head.
According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit criticized the Department of Corrections for housing Peterson with fellow inmate and alleged attacker Santino Casio, who was serving a life sentence for second-degree murder. “The choice to house Casio with Peterson was known or should have been a known danger,” the lawsuit said, adding that Tory Lanez’ “high-profile celebrity status” made him a target.
The lawsuit also said that prison guards were slow to respond to the shanking, and didn’t employ flash grenades or other measures to halt Casio’s attack.; Casio was not charged for stabbing Peterson, the Associated Press notes.
Lanez, who following his hospitalization was transferred to San Luis Obispo County’s California Men’s Colony, also alleges in the lawsuit that he never received his possessions from the California Correctional Institute in Tehachapi, including songbooks filled with lyrics to his unreleased music.
Lanez is serving a 10-year prison sentence for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot during a confrontation in the summer of 2020. He was eventually convicted on several firearms charges, including assault with a firearm, in December 2022. In November 2025, his appeal was denied by a three-judge panel, and the 10-year sentence was upheld.
From one crackdown on hospice fraud to another.
A few weeks ago, the FBI arrested multiple people in Southern California that were accused of defrauding the government for millions of dollars.
In a more recent announcement last Thursday, California’s State Attorney General Rob Bonta held a press conference to announce a fraud bust of their own.
“Operation Skip Trace uncovered and ended a hospice fraud scheme that defrauded Medi-Cal of $267 million,” Bonta said. “So just to be clear, a quarter billion dollars over funds that are paid for by California taxpayers, funds that are meant to provide care to Californians in need. It is unacceptable. It is illegal and we will not stand for it.”
The operation saw a total of 21 suspects charged as a result and dismantled a major hospice fraud scheme, with two handguns and over $750 thousand in cash seized as well.
According to the state’s attorney general, this is just one of the many cases over the years the state has cracked down on.
“This is just the latest example of the California DOJ’s longstanding ongoing and successful efforts to combat hospice and medical fraud,” Bonta said. “We have been doing this work for years. We’ve been doing it successfully before certain people in this country decided to think about it for the first time. We will continue to do this work. Heads down, sleeves rolled up, important investigative work, prosecutorial work.”
He added to that by taking a shot at the Trump Administration’s latest fraud operations.
“While healthcare fraud might be President Trump’s shiny new political talking point, the California DOJ has been going after healthcare fraud since 1979,” Bonta said. “For decades, Trump is late to the party. Protecting taxpayer dollars and protecting programs sick and vulnerable Californians rely on have been our priority for nearly five decades.”
Governor Gavin Newsom also spoke out about this latest crackdown while taking a shot of his own at President Trump.
In a post to “X” the Governor’s Press Office wrote in part quote…
“California has been cracking down on hospice fraud long before Trump gutted oversight and pardoned the architect of the biggest health care fraud scheme in U.S. history.”
State Republicans have responded to this latest announcement from Attorney General Bonta, calling for a special session to demand accountability from the Governor on widespread fraud.
-
South Dakota4 minutes agoNature: Prairie chickens in South Dakota
-
Tennessee10 minutes agoTennessee baseball vs Ole Miss score, live updates, start time, Game 3
-
Texas15 minutes agoTexas needs at least $174 billion to avoid water crisis, state says
-
Utah22 minutes agoMultiple earthquakes detected near Kanosh
-
Vermont27 minutes agoWrong-way driver stopped on I-89, charged with DUI
-
Virginia33 minutes agoParachutist Slams into Jumbotron at Virginia Tech Spring Game
-
Wisconsin46 minutes agoUS animal rights activists clash with police over Wisconsin dog breeder
-
West Virginia52 minutes agoThe 2026 WVU Tommy Nickolich Award Goes to a Parkersburg Native