NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Askume) – Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to a new charge of sexual assault, nearly five months after the disgraced Hollywood film director’s sex crimes conviction was overturned in New York.
Weinstein, 72, who is recovering from emergency heart surgery, faced a first-degree sex offense charge during a hearing before Judge Curtis Farber in New York State Court in Manhattan.
When Weinstein was asked about his culpability for this serious crime, he insisted: “I am not guilty.”
Weinstein still faces two additional criminal charges, including another first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge and a third-degree rape charge, to which he pleaded not guilty in an earlier indictment.
He appeared in court in a wheelchair, wearing a dark suit and blue tie, with a large bandage on his right arm.
The new charges announced by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accuse Weinstein of sexually assaulting a woman at a Manhattan hotel between April 29 and May 6, 2006.
“Thanks to this victim’s bravery in coming forward, Harvey Weinstein now faces yet another accusation of predatory sexual assault,” Bragg said in a statement.
The identity of Weinstein’s latest accuser has not yet been made public.
“She will be fully prepared to tell the truth at trial and hold Mr. Weinstein accountable before a jury of his peers,” her attorney, Lindsay Goldbrough, said in a statement.
It’s unclear if Weinstein’s retrial will include the three charges he currently faces.
A jury convicted Weinstein of rape and sexual assault in February 2020, less than two and a half years after allegations of sexual misconduct launched the #MeToo movement.
But the appeals court, the state’s highest court, in April threw out Weinstein’s conviction and 23-year prison sentence, saying he did not receive a fair trial because the judge allowed that the women Weinstein assaulted were not accused of doing so.
Weinstein has denied having nonconsensual sex with anyone. His original trial judge, James Burke, was not reappointed to the bench when his term expired at the end of 2022.
New allegations could delay retrial
The new charges were announced two months after prosecutors said they were investigating Weinstein for alleged “predatory sexual assault” and new accusers have come forward.
At the time, Farber tentatively set a Nov. 12 retrial date , but prosecutors said Wednesday they likely wouldn’t be able to have it ready until January.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said his client wants a trial “as soon as possible.”
He later told reporters that Weinstein “strongly opposed” adding new charges to the original case and wanted a retrial on the original charges as soon as possible.
Farber did not set a new hearing date but said he would move forward when both sides were ready.
Weinstein remains in custody after being separately convicted last year and sentenced to 16 years in prison for raping an actress in Los Angeles, California, in 2013.
Weinstein’s lawyers say he has health problems. On September 8, he was moved from New York City’s Rikers Island jail to a hospital for heart surgery.
Weinstein was once one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, co-founder of Miramax studios and whose hit films include “Shakespeare in Love” and “Pulp Fiction.”
In March 2018, Weinstein’s film studio, which collapsed amid initial sexual misconduct allegations, filed for bankruptcy.
Prosecutors in the New York trial portrayed Weinstein as a serial predator who lured women with the promise of career advancement in Hollywood, lured them to hotel rooms or private apartments and then pressured them to sexually assault him.
