Manhattan DA unveils new sex crime charge against Harvey Weinstein
NEW YORK — Disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to a new sex crime charge on Wednesday, months after his 2020 conviction was thrown out by New York’s top court.
A frail Weinstein entered the Manhattan courtroom at 3:30 p.m. in a wheelchair, clutching a bible and wearing a suit and blue tie to face the new charges, after being medically cleared.
The DA’s office previously announced they had a new indictment against Weinstein at a court hearing last week — but kept it under seal because Weinstein, 72, had just undergone emergency heart surgery and could not appear in court. He is currently being held at Bellevue Hospital.
The details of the accusation were not immediately available pending public release of the indictment.
Weinstein’s retrial was scheduled to begin Nov. 12, but prosecutor Shannon Lucey said on Wednesday said that schedule was unrealistic and asked the judge to move the date to January.
Aidala told the Daily News last week that his client was in extremely fragile condition.
“His heart condition and fluid around his heart and lungs were at the point where if there had not been emergency surgery, he would have expired,” the attorney said.
Earlier this year, the New York Court of Appeals overturned the film producer’s 2020 conviction for raping actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and sexually assaulting Mimi Haley, a former production assistant, in 2006. The court found the trial judge wrongly allowed the jury to hear testimony about uncharged incidents of sexual misconduct from three women.
The testimony “portrayed defendant in a highly prejudicial light,” the 4-3 decision read.
DA Alvin Bragg announced soon after that his office would re-prosecute the case with a new indictment.
Mann had previously said she would be willing to participate in a new case against Weinstein.
“The significant new criminal charges leveled today against Harvey Weinstein show that this Grand Jury, like so many others, can see clearly through his facade for what he truly is: a predator who must be held accountable for his crimes,” she said in a statement Thursday.
Prosecutors were scrutinizing several alleged sexual assaults by Weinstein involving three women who were not included in his first trial, including incidents in 2016 and the mid-2000s.
Weinstein has denied any wrongdoing, saying that any sexual activity was consensual. In 2022, he was found guilty in a separate rape case in California.
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