Sept 12 (Askume) – Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers are expected to appear in court on Thursday as Manhattan prosecutors prepare to re-prosecute the disgraced film producer on rape charges after an earlier conviction was overturned .
It is unclear whether Weinstein will attend. He was taken from a New York City jail to a hospital on Sunday for emergency heart surgery , and his lawyer said he was suffering from health problems.
Manhattan jurors convicted Weinstein of rape in February 2020. But a New York appeals court threw out the conviction in April, finding that Weinstein did not receive a fair trial because the judge improperly admitted the testimony of an accuser who had not been formally charged with the assault.
Weinstein, 72, has denied any wrongdoing and denies having nonconsensual sex with anyone.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said at a court hearing on July 9 that in addition to reprosecuting Weinstein, they wouldNew allegations of “more violent sexual assaults” are planned against more women who agree to testify.
The identities of the new defendants have not yet been made public, and prosecutors are trying to hide some evidence from the public as they prepare new grand jury indictments.
Judge Curtis Farber, who is overseeing the case, has tentatively set a hearing date for November 12.
A Manhattan jury found that the co-founder of the Miramax film studio sexually assaulted former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and raped aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013. She is one of more than 80 women who have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.
The verdict is a milestone in the #MeToo movement, in which women have accused hundreds of men in entertainment, media, politics and other fields of sexual misconduct.
In a separate trial in California, Weinstein was also convicted of rape and sentenced to 16 years in prison. This verdict is not affected by the New York Court of Appeals’ decision. Weinstein is still in custody but has not yet begun serving his sentence in California.
On September 5, British prosecutors said they had dropped indecent assault charges against Weinstein because they concluded there was no realistic prospect of a conviction.
Miramax’s hits include “Shakespeare in Love” and “Pulp Fiction.” In March 2018, Weinstein’s film studio filed for bankruptcy.
