Disgraced movie producer charged with first-degree felony
19/9/2024 5:54
Harvey Weinstein pleaded
not guilty to a new sexual assault charge on Wednesday, nearly
five months after the disgraced Hollywood movie mogul's earlier
sex crimes conviction in New York was overturned.
Weinstein, 72, who is recovering from emergency heart
surgery, entered his plea to committing a criminal sexual act in
the first degree at a hearing before Justice Curtis Farber in a
New York state court in Manhattan.
"Not guilty," Weinstein responded emphatically when asked
for his plea to the felony charge.
Weinstein still faces two other criminal counts from an
earlier indictment where he also pleaded not guilty, including
another first-degree criminal sexual act charge and a
third-degree rape charge.
He appeared in court in a wheelchair, wearing a dark suit
and a blue tie, and with a large bandage on his right hand.
The new charge announced by Manhattan District Attorney
Alvin Bragg accuses Weinstein of sexually assaulting a woman in
a downtown Manhattan hotel between April 29 and May 6, 2006.
"Thanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey
Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent
sexual assault," Bragg said in a statement.
Weinstein's latest accuser has yet to be publicly
identified.
"She will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial to
hold Mr. Weinstein accountable before a jury of his peers," her
lawyer Lindsay Goldbrum said in a statement.
It was unclear whether a retrial of Weinstein would include
the three charges he now faces.
Jurors had found Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault
in February 2020, less than 2-1/2 years after sexual misconduct
accusations made his case the impetus for the #MeToo movement.
But the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, threw
out Weinstein's conviction and 23-year sentence in April, saying
he did not get a fair trial because the judge allowed testimony
from women who Weinstein was not charged with assaulting.
Weinstein has denied having nonconsensual sexual encounters
with anyone. His original trial judge, James Burke, was not
reappointed to the bench after his term expired at the end of
2022.
NEW CHARGE MAY DELAY RETRIAL
The new charge was announced two months after prosecutors
said they were investigating additional alleged "violent sexual
assaults" by Weinstein, after new accusers came forward.
Farber at the time set a tentative Nov. 12 retrial date, but
prosecutors said on Wednesday they would likely not be ready
until January.
Weinstein's lawyer Arthur Aidala said his client wants to go
trial "as soon as humanly possible."
He later told reporters that Weinstein was "vehemently
opposed" to adding the new charge to the original case, and
wants a retrial on the original charges as soon as possible.
Farber did not set a new trial date, but said he would
proceed when both sides are ready.
Weinstein remains in custody, because he was convicted
separately last year in California for the 2013 rape of an
actress in Los Angeles and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Weinstein's lawyers have said he is beset with health
problems. He was rushed to the hospital from New York City's
Rikers Island jail on Sept. 8 to undergo heart surgery.
Once among Hollywood's most powerful people, Weinstein
co-founded the Miramax studio, whose hits included "Shakespeare
in Love" and "Pulp Fiction."
Weinstein's film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018,
imploding after the original accusations of sexual misconduct.
In the New York trial, prosecutors portrayed Weinstein as a
serial predator who manipulated women with promises of career
advancement in Hollywood, coaxed them into hotel rooms or
private apartments, and then overpowered and attacked them.
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