Harvey Weinstein has been charged with new criminal charges in New York, a prosecutor said in court Thursday, as the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office prepares to retry the former movie mogul after his rape conviction was overturned.
Jurors in Manhattan found Weinstein, 72, guilty of rape in 2020, but the New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction in April, finding that Weinstein did not receive a fair trial because the judge improperly admitted testimony from accusers who had not been formally accused of assault.
Manhattan prosecutors said in July that they were investigating additional predatory sexual assaults allegedly committed by Weinstein after more women agreed to testify against the Miramax studios co-founder. He has denied having nonconsensual sex with anyone.
Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg did not elaborate on the new charges against Weinstein during a hearing before Judge Curtis Farber in New York state court in Manhattan.
Farber has tentatively set the hearing for Nov. 12, but said he is willing to consider starting it earlier.
Weinstein’s lawyer said it was improper for prosecutors to seek to add additional victims to the case after the conviction was overturned.
“Once again we have a hotline: ‘1-800 GET HARVEY,'” defense attorney Arthur Aidala said in court July 9.
The one-time Hollywood kingmaker’s health has deteriorated in recent years, and he is confined to a wheelchair because of back problems, according to his representatives.
Despite his conviction being overturned in New York, Weinstein remains in custody at the Rikers Island jail complex due to a separate rape conviction in California.
In July he was transferred to a prison ward at a New York hospital because of a variety of ailments, including Covid-19.
Weinstein’s initial sentencing in New York was a milestone for the #MeToo movement, in which women accused hundreds of men in entertainment, media, politics and other fields of sexual misconduct.
The jury found that Weinstein sexually assaulted former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and raped aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013. They are among more than 80 women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison in the New York case, and 16 years in prison in the California case.
In that case, a Los Angeles jury found Weinstein guilty of rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by means of a foreign object against one woman, but acquitted him of charges related to the second accuser.
The judge overseeing the case declared mistrials in cases where the jury was unable to reach a verdict, including allegations brought by Siebel Newsom, wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The New York Supreme Court’s ruling had no effect on the California sentence. Weinstein has not begun serving his California sentence.
Miramax’s hits include “Shakespeare in Love” and “Pulp Fiction.” Weinstein’s film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018 as the allegations against him accelerated its implosion.
In the trial, which played out in New York, Weinstein was portrayed as a serial predator who lured women with promises of career advancement in Hollywood, lured them to hotel rooms or private apartments and then forced and violently assaulted them.
During his sentencing hearing in Manhattan in 2020, Weinstein said he was “concerned about the thousands of men who are losing due process” during the #MeToo movement.
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