Harvey Weinstein appeared in a Manhattan courtroom for the first time since the New York Court of Appeals threw out his 2020 rape conviction. But now the former movie producer faces a possible retrial, as the DA’s office has pushed for a new trial starting in September. NBC New York’s Sarah Wallace reports.
What to Know
- An appeals court vacated Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction last week, erasing his 23-year prison sentence, after concluding a trial judge permitted jurors to see and hear too much evidence not directly related to the charges against him
- 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
- 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
Harvey Weinstein arrived at a Manhattan courthouse Wednesday, his first appearance since his 2020 rape conviction was overturned by an appeals court last week.
Weinstein, wearing a navy blue suit, was seated in a wheelchair pushed by a court officer as he entered the preliminary hearing in Manhattan. He appeared attentive at the defense table, but did not speak during the hearing in which attorneys for both sides discussed evidence among other matters.
Weinstein’s defense lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said his client was attending the hearing despite the 72-year-old having been hospitalized since shortly after his return to the city jail system Friday from an upstate prison. He has said Weinstein, who has cardiac issues and diabetes, was undergoing unspecified tests because of his health ailments.
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Aidala said he has no concern about his client’s mental abilities, describing Weinstein as “sharp as a tack. As sharp as he ever was.” Aidala added that when he told his client of his conviction being overturned, Weinstein responded with one word: good.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was in the courtroom Wednesday. His 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. Her attorney, Gloria Allred, said she was "still thinking about it," and that it was "not an easy" decision.
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Prosecutors said one of the accusers, Jessica Mann, who was in court Wednesday, is prepared to testify again. They also suggested locking in a date in September after Labor Day for the retrial.
Aidala said his client wants to prove his innocence: “It's a new trial. It’s a new day...Harvey Weinstein is now presumed innocent."
The judge said the trial itself would not start until after Labor Day, though no exact date was given. Weinstein's next court appearance is scheduled for May 29. After being wheeled out of the courtroom in a wheelchair, he was taken back to Bellevue Hospital following the hearing.
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. His lawyers have said they plan on appealing that one as well, because what happened in New York was referenced in that trial.
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.
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 judges who overturned the conviction recommended a new trial be brought against Weinstein.
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. Weinstein, whose guilty verdict was seen as a reckoning of the movement, has always maintained any sex was consensual.
