Source: NYPOST.com

Harvey Weinstein was shocked and emotional when he was handed a news clipping in jail informing him that his felony sex crime conviction was overturned by a New York court on Thursday.

Defense attorney Arthur Aidala told reporters that his client was told the “good news” when he was handed a two-sentence article from the Associated Press while four years into his sentence at the Mohawk Correctional Facility.

“He said ‘Thank you’ more times than I can count,” Aidala said of his phone call with Weinstein on Thursday morning.

In a 4-3 ruling, the New York State Court of Appeals found that a Manhattan judge “erroneously” allowed testimony from three women whose allegations weren’t connected to the case.

Aidala said it was unfair for trial Judge James Burke to allow the additional women to testify in the 2020 case, and he touted the high court’s recent ruling as “a great day for America.”

“What the highest court said today is, ‘No one is above the law, but no one is below the law either,’” Aidala said.

“Whether it’s a former president of the United States, or the most storied producer in the history of the United States, the law applies to everyone,” he added.

The legal team is working to get Weinstein released from prison, where “he’s made some friends,” and relocate him to a medical facility closer to his family in New York City.

Weinstein spokesperson Juda Engelmayer added the team is also preparing for what comes next following the courts’ decision in terms of a retrial and Weinstein’s possible extradition to Los Angeles.

“We are optimistic and excited — cautiously, obviously,” Engelmayer told The Post. “We have a road ahead of us in Los Angeles and we have to understand the ramifications of the appeal decision here.”

Engelmayer echoed Aidala, saying that Weinstein was also shocked to learn of Thursday’s decision.

“He thanked me. He’s emotional. He’s happy,” he said.

Following his New York conviction in 2020, Weinstein was sentenced in February 2023 to 16 years in prison in a separate Los Angeles criminal case for raping an Italian model at a film festival in 2013.

The sentence was meant to be served concurrently with his New York term.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office vowed to seek a retrial for Weinstein.

Aidala welcomed the chance to return to court as soon as possible, adding that a retrial would only involve the criminal sex act charge relating to former “Project Runway” production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi in 2006.

His team argued that the rape charge with hairstylist Jessica Mann in 2013 could not be retried because it involves alleged conduct outside the statute of limitations.