Weinsteins step down as Miramax CEOs

allowing prosecutors to call as witnesses a series of women who said Mr. Weinstein had assaulted them — but whose accusations were not part of the charges against him.

not a lawyer, but isn't this a character witness? why is this not viable?

Allegations of Prior bad acts aren’t supposed to influence determination of the persons guilt on the actual charges the court is considering.

It’s a principle supposed to protect the defendant, wouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water.

it's been thrown out

I don't believe for a second that this rule is applied with any consistency

^^^ otm

also like allegations of prior "bad" things that have nothing to do with the case at hand (e.g. queerness, drug use, mental illness) seem to be totally fair game when it comes to discrediting victims so whose game are we playing here

this is like "there is too much evidence that this guy is bad, overturned!"

Rich, powerful (formerly, anyway) and white. Different rules, once again.

on paper I get the need for the different standards for a conviction vs an accusation but the way it works out in practice is always so fucked up and arbitrary and I know lawyers can explain it all rationally like they always do and mask the violence and power through reason and process which just makes the whole thing even more grotesque

this is evidence 101 and you might want to consider how prosecutors might use prior bad acts to railroad defendants.

Weinstein is scum and belongs in prison, but no, it isn't always fucked up and arbitrary.

they literally do that all the time?

it might be against the rules in some abstract sense but so what

lol, abstract

speaking of standards of evidence

Appeals courts overturn the convictions of undoubtable scumbags because of unfair trials pretty frequently

you know how your rapist president and your other rapist president (no not that one, the other one) collaborated in the biggest ever expansion in prison populations and how hundreds of thousands of mostly non white people are still serving time and providing free labour and often being raped because of alleged petty crimes?

but due process and sufficient evidence is obviously very important now when someone more like bill clinton is in trouble and it's worth retraumatising his victims in order to prove a point about american justice or something

I don't have a clue about what legal procedures are necessary for doing this or that but in light of the above that shouldn't be the point the point should be the burn whole thing down, death to patriarchy, death to america, and so on

@ no one in particular except "america"

ok