Manhattan prosecutors on Tuesday mentioned they have been “actively pursuing” extra allegations of sexual assault in opposition to the disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein forward of a brand new trial that was prone to start within the fall.
Nicole Blumberg, an assistant district lawyer, mentioned in Manhattan legal courtroom that her workplace had recognized allegations of rape and sexual assault in opposition to Mr. Weinstein that had occurred throughout the statute of limitations, and that prosecutors deliberate to ask a grand jury to indict him. She mentioned they have been working in a “trauma-informed” method along with his accusers.
“In 2020, there have been girls who weren’t able to proceed with the authorized course of,” she mentioned. “A few of these girls are actually able to proceed.”
When the decide within the case, Justice Curtis Farber, pressed for a date when a grand jury may hear new expenses, Ms. Blumberg couldn’t give one, however she mentioned prosecutors could possibly be ready to go to trial by the autumn, at one level indicating November.
It could be the second trial of Mr. Weinstein in New York involving expenses of intercourse crimes. His 2020 conviction was overturned in April after the best courtroom within the state discovered that the presiding decide had erred by permitting prosecutors to name a number of accusers as witnesses, although their allegations had not led to expenses.
Shortly after, Alvin L. Bragg, the Manhattan district lawyer, mentioned that his workplace would retry Mr. Weinstein even because the appeals courtroom’s ruling restricted prosecutors’ skill to make use of a number of the proof from the primary trial.
“We stay up for having a brand new day in courtroom, and the Courtroom of Appeals choice not being the final phrase or chapter on this,” Mr. Bragg mentioned on the time.
Mr. Weinstein is being held on the Rikers Island jail advanced whereas he awaits a brand new trial in New York. Final 12 months, in a separate case in California, he was sentenced to 16 years in jail for committing intercourse crimes in Los Angeles County.
On Tuesday, Mr. Weinstein was wheeled into the courtroom in a wheelchair, carrying a darkish swimsuit, white shirt and blue tie. His left hand was cuffed to the chair, whereas his proper held a e book beneath it.
Additionally in courtroom was Jessica Mann, one of many accusers within the 2020 case who testified in the course of the trial. Ms. Mann was an aspiring actress when she mentioned Mr. Weinstein raped her in a New York resort room.
Mr. Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, has mentioned that he would object to calling Ms. Mann at a retrial as a result of, he mentioned, Mr. Weinstein has already served sufficient time to account for the sentence in her case.
On Tuesday, Mr. Aidala mentioned he believed that prosecutors have been using “delay techniques” to stall a brand new trial.
“They’ve a defendant and now they’re on the market in search of a criminal offense,” he mentioned, including that it was akin to a hotline “1-800-GET-HARVEY.”
Mr. Weinstein’s well being has continued to deteriorate lately, Mr. Aidala mentioned to Justice Farber. Based on Mr. Weinstein’s medical doctors, Mr. Aidala informed the decide, his consumer has “fluid on his coronary heart, fluid in his lungs” and spinal stenosis, amongst different illnesses. Mr. Aidala mentioned that Mr. Weinstein was exhausted and in “excruciating ache” and that he was not “getting the remedy he wants.”
On the top of his profession in Hollywood, Mr. Weinstein was lauded as a producer who may make careers. Nevertheless, in accordance with his accusers, he additionally wielded that energy to harass and sexually assault girls, a lot of whom have been younger and attempting to make it within the business.
In 2020, Mr. Weinstein was convicted of raping one girl and committing a legal sexual act in opposition to one other. However in a 4-to-3 choice, the New York Courtroom of Appeals overturned these convictions this 12 months, saying he had not acquired a good trial.
In a Could listening to, prosecutors mentioned they have been vetting allegations from individuals who had accused Mr. Weinstein of sexual assault lately to evaluate which accusations fell throughout the statute of limitations. On the time, prosecutors didn’t present details about what number of accusers they have been interviewing or the main points of what they mentioned.
