Harvey Weinstein's lawyers due in NY court as new rape trial looms
By Jack Queen
Sept 12 (Reuters) -Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers are expected in court on Thursday as Manhattan prosecutors prepare to retry the disgraced movie mogul on rape charges after a previous conviction was overturned.
It is unclear whether Weinstein will be present. He was rushed to the hospital from a New York City jail on Sunday to undergo emergency heart surgery, and his lawyers say he is beset with health problems.
Jurors in Manhattan found Weinstein guilty of rape in February 2020. But the New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction in April, finding Weinstein did not get a fair trial because a judge improperly allowed testimony by accusers he was not formally charged with assaulting.
Weinstein, 72, has denied wrongdoing and has denied having any nonconsensual sexual encounters with anyone.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said at a July 9 court hearing that in addition to retrying Weinstein, they intend to bring new charges for “additional violent sexual assaults” of more women who agreed to testify.
The new accusers have not been publicly identified, and prosecutors are seeking to shield certain evidence from public view while they prepare to seek a new grand jury indictment.
The judge overseeing the case, Curtis Farber, has set a tentative Nov. 12 trial date.
The Manhattan jury found the Miramax film studio co-founder 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 Weinstein of sexual misconduct.
The conviction was a milestone for the #MeToo movement, in which women accused hundreds of men in entertainment, media, politics and other fields of sexual misconduct.
Weinstein was also convicted of rape in a separate trial in California, and has been sentenced to 16 years in prison. That conviction was not affected by the New York appeals court's decision. Weinstein has remained in custody but has not begun serving the California sentence.
On Sept. 5, British prosecutors said they had discontinued indecent assault charges against Weinstein after concluding there was no realistic chance of securing a conviction.
Miramax's hit movies included "Shakespeare in Love" and "Pulp Fiction." Weinstein's film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018.
Reporting by Jack Queen; editing by Jonathan Oatis
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