NEW YORK, May 2 — Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein confronted considered one of his accusers in New York court docket Wednesday as he was instructed he can be retried for rape and sexual assault convictions that had been overturned within the state.
His 2020 conviction for raping ex-actress Jessica Mann, who was within the entrance row of the courtroom’s public gallery and mere toes from Weinstein, was overturned by New York’s highest court docket final week.
Jessica Mann, one of many key witnesses from Harvey Weinstein’s felony trial leaves Manhattan felony court docket May 1, 2024 in New York throughout a listening to during which Harvey Weinstein faces New York retrial after 2020 rape conviction overturned. New York’s highest court docket on April 25, 2024, overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction on intercourse crime prices. — eNM pic
Weinstein was visibly frail as he was wheeled into the Manhattan courtroom flanked by his legal professionals, smiling and waving at supporters as he was pushed in a wheelchair previous the general public gallery.
“We consider on this case… to that finish (accuser) Jessica Mann is in court docket at present,” mentioned prosecutor Nicole Blumberg. “She is dedicated to seeing justice served as soon as once more.
“We have each perception that the defendant can be convicted once more at trial.”
But Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala insisted “he was acquitted of probably the most critical counts,” accusing the prosecutor within the authentic New York trial of perjuring herself.
Weinstein’s staff had sought bail pending any retrial, however Judge Curtis Farber rejected that, remanding him pending a retrial which he set for after Labor Day on September 4.
“His life is on the road,” Aidala mentioned.
Caviar to commissary chips
The subsequent listening to within the case can be May 29 to deal with discovery points, Farber mentioned, including that “we anticipate a trial schedule some date after Labor Day.”
Outside court docket, Aidala mentioned authorities ought to spend extra time pursuing subway criminals and pupil protesters at Columbia University.
Weinstein “hasn’t had any fights or altercations” in jail, Aidala added.
“(But) he was used to consuming champagne and consuming caviar — now he’s shopping for chips within the commissary,” he mentioned.
Weinstein was convicted in New York in 2020 of the rape and sexual assault of ex-actress Mann in 2013, and of forcibly performing oral intercourse on former manufacturing assistant Mimi Haley in 2006.
He was sentenced to 23 years in jail.
Last week New York’s highest court docket dominated the trial judge erred in admitting the testimony of girls who had been allegedly abused by Weinstein however who weren’t named within the prices introduced in opposition to him.
Gloria Allred, a victims’ rights lawyer for Haley, mentioned her consumer “has not but taken a choice about whether or not she’s going to conform to testify in a retrial.”
“The vacating of the conviction was re-traumatising for her… She’s nonetheless interested by it,” Allred mentioned exterior court docket.
Weinstein would have probably remained in custody in any case due to a conviction for rape in California for which he obtained a sentence of 16 years.
The once-untouchable Hollywood heavyweight has suffered from a raft of well being points whereas in jail and has frolicked in a safe hospital unit.
Bombshell allegations broke in opposition to the Oscar-winning producer in 2017, launching the #MeToo motion, a watershed second for ladies preventing sexual misconduct.
The choice to quash the New York convictions rested on prosecutors permitting witnesses to testify regardless of not being a part of the fees — an exception to the conventional guidelines surrounding proof.
Lawyers mentioned Weinstein’s Los Angeles conviction was unlikely to be affected by the New York reversal.
But Weinstein’s authorized staff has indicated it now intends to enchantment the California conviction.
“If there’s even a whiff he may get bail in California (pending an enchantment) he ought to get it right here,” Aidala mentioned exterior court docket “This case is so diminished.”
A civil trial awarded US$17 million to dozens of different ladies who had accused the previous film magnate of abuse.
Weinstein and his brother Bob co-founded Miramax Films, a distribution firm offered to Disney in 1993.
