Harvey Weinstein prosecutors aim for fall retrial after N.Y. rape conviction is overturned

Prosecutors stated Wednesday they’re aiming to retry Harvey Weinstein within the fall after a New York appeals court docket overturned his 2020 rape conviction.

Weinstein appeared earlier than Manhattan Prison Courtroom Choose Curtis Farber round 2:15 p.m., his first look since his conviction was overturned.

He entered the court docket in a wheelchair, trying gaunt.

A Weinstein accuser, former aspiring actor Jessica Mann, sat within the second row, a couple of seats from Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin Bragg. Mann accused Weinstein of raping her in a New York Metropolis lodge in 2013.

A lot of the dialogue centered on whether or not Weinstein ought to be launched and whether or not there will probably be a brand new trial. 

Weinstein’s legal professional, Arthur Aidala, requested that Weinstein be allowed to remain within the hospital the place he was receiving remedy. 

Assistant District Legal professional Nicole Blumberg requested that he stay in custody.

“It was a robust case, and he was convicted and sentenced to 23 years. … It stays a robust case,” Blumberg stated.

Blumberg informed the decide that they “will retry the case.”

“We expect early fall date, probably as early as September, for a trial,” she stated.

Farber remanded Weinstein again to Bellevue Hospital for remedy and set a discovery listening to for 10 a.m. Might 29.

The state Courtroom of Appeals overturned his conviction Thursday in a 4-3 determination, and he was hospitalized days later for a battery of assessments.

The Courtroom of Appeals discovered that the decide within the landmark #MeToo trial had prejudiced Weinstein with improper rulings, together with a call to let girls testify about allegations that weren’t a part of the case.

The court docket stated that the “trial court docket erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts” and that the “testimony served no materials non-propensity objective.” It stated the court docket “compounded that error” when it dominated that Weinstein, who had no felony historical past, could possibly be cross-examined “about these allegations in addition to quite a few allegations of misconduct that portrayed defendant in a extremely prejudicial gentle.”

Choose Jenny Rivera, writing for almost all, referred to as the errors “egregious” and stated the treatment was a brand new trial. In his dissent, Choose Anthony Cannataro wrote that the court docket’s determination was an “unlucky step backwards.”

A lot of Weinstein’s accusers expressed shock and disappointment with the reversal. Bragg stated he deliberate to retry the case.

Weinstein, 72, had been serving a 23-year sentence in New York’s Mohawk Correctional Facility after he was discovered responsible of forcibly performing oral intercourse on a tv and movie manufacturing assistant in 2006 and third-degree rape for an assault on an aspiring actor in 2013.

On Friday, he was transferred to a medical ward at Rikers Island jail in New York Metropolis. The subsequent day, he was taken to Bellevue Hospital for a extra thorough examination after docs checked him out at Rikers, stated Aidala, his legal professional.

Aidala stated Weinstein “wants a variety of assist bodily” and has “a variety of issues.”

Weinstein’s spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, stated final week that he makes use of a walker and a wheelchair and has audio and coronary heart points.

Weinstein was convicted of rape in Los Angeles in 2022 and sentenced to 16 years in jail. He was acquitted of 1 rely of sexual battery in that case.

Engelmayer stated final week that Weinstein could also be extradited to California. His authorized staff is interesting that case.