The State of New York Court of Appeals has overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction on rape charges and has ordered a new trial. Despite this, Weinstein will stay in prison as he has a conviction in a separate case in California. In the 2020 trial, Weinstein, who is now 72 years old, was convicted of rape in the third degree for sexually assaulting an actress in 2013 and of committing a criminal sex act by coercing oral sex from a former production assistant in 2006. He was given a 23-year prison sentence.

The court determined that the judge overseeing Harvey Weinstein’s case had erred by permitting prosecutors to bring in witnesses whose allegations were not related to the charges against him, as per the 4-3 ruling. The decision text was made public on Thursday morning.

The decision to have women who were not part of the charges against Weinstein testify was made “erroneously” by the lower court, the appeals court said. The error was “compounded” when the lower court ruled that Weinstein could be cross-examined about those allegations. The appeals court said these decisions diminished Weinstein’s character before a jury.

Because prosecutors may not use “prior convictions or proof of the prior commission of specific, criminal, vicious or immoral acts” to establish a person’s criminality, the decision to have alleged victims whose claims were not part of the charges against Weinstein meant that he was judged “on irrelevant, prejudicial, and untested allegations of prior bad acts,” according to the appeals court. 

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Mr. Jim Ovia, CFR, renowned banker and businessman, as the Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).

Mr. Ovia is the founder of one of Nigeria’s leading banks and a respected business leader, with a surfeit of efforts and benefaction towards nurturing and empowering young Nigerians.

He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Louisiana.

The National Student Loan Programme is a pivotal intervention that seeks to guarantee sustainable higher education and functional skill development for all Nigerian students and youths.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, the implementing institution of this innovation, demands excellence and Nigerians of the finest professional ilk to guide and manage.

The President believes Mr. Ovia will bring his immense wealth of experience and professional stature to this role to advance the all-important vision of ensuring that no Nigerian student suffers a capricious end to their pursuit of higher education over a lack of funds and of ensuring that Nigerian youths, irrespective of who they are, have access to higher education and skills that will make them productive members of society and core contributors to the knowledge-based global economy of this century.