Harvey Weinstein’s retrial on sex crimes charges in Manhattan will not start until at least next year as his lawyers plan to hire a private investigator to look into a new allegation against the movie mogul that will now be part of the case.
The new details came as Weinstein appeared in court Wednesday for a pre-trial hearing.
Weinstein was already facing retrial on two sex crimes charges after the US state’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction earlier this year. In September, he was hit with a new charge accusing him of another assault. He has pleaded not guilty.
On Wednesday, Judge Curtis Farber granted a prosecution request to consolidate both cases and agreed to push back the trial’s start date, which had been tentatively scheduled for 12 November.
Weinstein’s lawyers had sought a date in March or April. Prosecutors said they were not opposed, but were prepared to go to trial as soon as January. Judge Farber set the next pre-trial hearing for 29 January.
"We’re going to need some time to investigate the case, hire a private investigator and dig more into discovery," said Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala.
Weinstein, seated in a wheelchair, held a copy of former president Barack Obama’s memoir A Promised Land as he listened intently to the proceedings.
Weinstein was convicted on charges that he forcibly performed oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actor in 2013.
In the new charge, prosecutors say he forced oral sex on a different woman in a Manhattan hotel in the spring of 2006.
After the hearing, Mr Aidala said he was "somewhat disappointed" but not surprised by the judge’s decision to consolidate the cases.
"It’s right out of their playbook from the last time," he said, referring to prosecutors. "They’re going to put his personality and his demeanour on trial as opposed to the facts of the case on trial."
Weinstein’s lawyers had argued in court papers that the cases should remain separate, accusing prosecutors of attempting to transform the retrial into "an entirely new proceeding".
But Judge Farber sided with Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, which had contended that holding a separate trial on the new charge would be "extraordinarily inefficient" and waste judicial resources.
In a written decision, the judge said lawyers for Weinstein had "failed to establish that his right to a fair trial free of undue prejudice would be violated" if the two cases were merged.
Mr Aidala said the new accuser has not been officially identified to defence lawyers.
"It’s much of the same where for years, decades, it’s been consensual, and then as of late, it’s not consensual," he said.
A lawyer for the accuser, who she said wants to be identified as "Jane Doe" for now, said her client maintains her encounter with Weinstein was not consensual.
"While Ms Doe has previously chosen not to publicly share this painful portion of her experience, she has always remained consistent in her conversations with the Manhattan DA’s office," Lindsay Goldbrum said in a statement. "Ms Doe wants her privacy to be respected while she prepares for her testimony."
Mr Aidala also rejected suggestions that Weinstein’s case echoes the federal sex trafficking case against rap mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, which includes allegations he coerced and abused women for years and silenced them through blackmail, threats and violence.
"There’s no allegations of force, like physical force. There’s no allegations of drugs and filming and baby oil and all that stuff," he said. "This is all about people who knew each other, who went on dates, who fooled around. Everything was fine for years and years and years and now it’s not fine any more."
Weinstein’s first trial included evidence from women who described being forcibly groped, physically cornered and shoved into objects by Weinstein, and kicking and punching him as they tried to wrestle out of his grip.
He was acquitted at that trial of predatory sexual assault charges related to accusations by actress Annabella Sciorra, who had described a violent attack in her apartment in the 1990s. Prosecutors are barred from retrying him on those allegations.
Mr Aidala would not elaborate on reports that Weinstein is dealing with a new health issue behind bars.
"I’m not going to get into any specifics except to say that Mr Weinstein is a fighter and he’s here to fight this case and he’s going to fight with every ounce of strength in his body any health issues that he has," he said.
The 72-year-old former film producer has faced numerous health complications including emergency heart surgery to remove fluid on his heart and lungs last month.
His lawyers have argued unsuccessfully that he should be housed at Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital rather than the city’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex.
Sexual assault and harassment allegations against Weinstein turbocharged the MeToo movement in 2017.
The co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company was also convicted of rape in Los Angeles in 2022, though his lawyers have appealed.
Source: Press Association
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