- Harvey Weinstein is due back in court
- This comes after his sexual abuse conviction was overturned
- THESE are the details of the case as we know them
Harvey Weinstein is due back in a New York courtroom Wednesday for his first appearance since an appeals court last week overturned his 2020 rape conviction and ordered a new trial. The preliminary hearing in Manhattan is expected to include discussion of evidence, scheduling and other matters, according to Weinstein’s attorney, Arthur Aidala.
Harvey Weinstein is facing major issues at large
Aidala said Weinstein will attend the hearing, despite the 72-year-old having been hospitalized since shortly after his return to the city jail system on Friday from an upstate prison. He has said Weinstein, who has cardiac issues and diabetes, was undergoing unspecified tests due to his health issues.
Last week, the New York state appeals court ruled that the judge overseeing the former Hollywood mogul's case had erred when he allowed the testimony of women who made allegations about Weinstein for which he was never charged. The judge had "erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes", the appeals court ruled by a vote of 4 to 3.
The decision also said the trial judge compounded the error by letting Weinstein be cross-examined in a way that portrayed him in a "highly prejudicial" light. "The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial," the court found.
In a statement on Friday, the Manhattan prosecutor's office vowed to work towards a second conviction, although it did not provide any timeline.
Holding firm
"We will do everything in our power to retry this case, and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault," Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
Weinstein has always maintained his innocence and his defense team said at the time of the New York trial that sex between the movie executive and accusers was consensual.
Bragg’s office has said it is determined to retry the case against Weinstein. Legal experts say that may be a long road and come down to whether the women he’s accused of assaulting are willing to testify again. One of the women, Mimi Haley, said Friday she was still considering whether she would testify at any retrial.
Aidala said Saturday that he plans to tell the judge that he believes a trial could occur any time after Labor Day.
The once-powerful studio boss was also convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and is still sentenced to another 16 years in prison in California.
In the New York case that is now overturned, he was convicted of rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actor in 2013, and of forcing himself on Haley, a former 'Project Runway' production assistant, in 2006. Weinstein had pleaded not guilty and maintained any sexual activity was consensual.
The 'Associated Press' does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named, as Haley has.
Also interesting:
A stunning turn of events
Shockwave For #MeToo: Harvey Weinstein's Conviction Overturned!
A high-stakes courtroom showdown!
She wants payback
On Thursday, the New York Court of Appeals vacated his conviction in a 4-3 decision, erasing his 23-year prison sentence, after concluding a trial judge permitted jurors to see and hear too much evidence not directly related to what he was charged with.
The ruling shocked and disappointed women who celebrated historic gains during the era of #MeToo, a movement that ushered in a wave of sexual misconduct claims in Hollywood and beyond.
