New Harvey Weinstein trial likely in New York after Labor Day: NPR

Harvey Weinstein will appear in Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday, May 1.

Steven Hirsch/AFP via Getty Images

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Steven Hirsch/AFP via Getty Images

Harvey Weinstein will appear in Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday, May 1.

Steven Hirsch/AFP via Getty Images

Editor’s Note: This report includes descriptions of sexual assault.

In a New York criminal court Wednesday afternoon, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office told Judge Curtis Farber that it intends to pursue a new trial against disgraced former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein , after his previous sex crime conviction in New York was overturned last week. The retrial is expected to begin sometime after Labor Day, according to Judge Curtis Farber.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed that his office was working to arrange a retrial, noting at a news conference Wednesday afternoon: “We are already moving forward in this case and having conversations with survivors, focusing on their well-being and pursuing justice. “.

Weinstein, 72, appeared in court Wednesday in a wheelchair. After his conviction was overturned last week, he was transferred from Mohawk Correctional Center in upstate New York, where he was serving a 23-year sentence, to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan to be monitored and cared for. At Wednesday’s hearing, Farber remanded Weinstein into custody.

In comments at a press conference after the hearing, one of Weinstein’s lawyers, Arthur Aidala, observed: “Mr. Weinstein is clearly not in good physical health” and added: “Mentally, he’s fine – as sharp as a thumbtack, but Physically he’s falling apart.

Aidala also reiterated Weinstein’s innocence, saying, “We feel a tremendous sense of relief to be back here. The most obvious difference is the judge we’re in front of.”

Weinstein’s previous conviction in New York was overturned after the state Court of Appeals ruled that Weinstein did not receive a fair trial, in part because the judge in that trial, James Burke, had allowed the testimony of women whose allegations were not part of the charges. (These women’s testimonies were authorized by Burke as “Molineux witnesses” or “witnesses to prior wrongdoing.” Legal experts say that because the bar for Molineux witnesses can be very subjective, their use leaves verdicts more open to legal challenges.

However, in February 2023, Weinstein was also convicted of rape and sexual assault in a separate trial in Los Angeles; he was sentenced to a 16-year prison term in California, to be served after his imprisonment in New York ends. Weinstein’s lawyers say they are also appealing the California conviction. The brief for this appeal is due to be submitted to the court later this month.

It is not yet clear whether all of the women whose charges were part of the first set of charges in New York will be willing to testify again before a new jury. Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented accuser Mimi Haleyi, said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, “Mimi has not yet made a decision whether or not she will agree to testify in the retrial.” . York) was retraumatized for her, and that it will be even more traumatic to testify once again. She made a huge sacrifice of time and emotion in the years leading up to her taking the witness stand at trial.