Manhattan prosecutor says he will prosecute Harvey Weinstein for sex crimes

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office will re-prosecute the sex crimes case against Harvey Weinstein, a prosecutor told the court Wednesday in the former film producer's first hearing since his conviction was overturned.

The judge ordered Weinstein to remain in custody ahead of his retrial, with the next hearing scheduled for May 29.

Weinstein, 72, was convicted in 2020 of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. But last week, the New York Court of Appeals, by a vote of 4 to 3, overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial, saying the trial judge erroneously admitted the testimony of three witnesses of “prior bad acts” and incorrectly allowed prosecutors to question Weinstein about instances of verbal abuse.

The court's decision reversed the case against Weinstein, whose downfall became a symbol of the success of the #MeToo movement.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office said last week that it planned to reopen the case, and prosecutor Nicole Blumberg made that position official in court on Wednesday. She said she wants to reopen the case quickly by September if possible.

Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg also arrived in court with actress Jessica Mann, one of the case's main accusers, as a show of unity.

“Jessica Mann is here in court to show that she is not backing down,” Blumberg said. She added that this was a strong case previously and “remains a strong case in 2024.”

Weinstein arrived at court in a wheelchair and was wearing a suit. Arthur Aidala, his lawyer, said Weinstein “has very serious medical problems” and was in Bellevue Hospital, but said he was still mentally capable.

“He is as lucid as ever and as intelligent as he ever was,” Aidala said.

He disputed the prosecutor's assertion that the case is strong, saying, “he was acquitted of the most serious charges,” and asked that the charges from which Weinstein was acquitted be removed from the charging document.

Weinstein has maintained his innocence and denied any non-consensual sexual activity.

Outside court after the hearing, Aidala said the defense only plans to ask for bail in New York if they are able to obtain bail pending an appeal in the California case. He said Weinstein was in poor health but in good spirits.

“The human spirit is very powerful. Weinstein was used to drinking champagne and eating caviar, and now he pays for chips and M&Ms in prison, but he keeps his chin up and makes the best of a very horrible situation,” said Aidala.

How did we get here

The court appearance came more than six years after reports in The New York Times and The New Yorker in 2017 revealed Weinstein's alleged history of sexual abuse, harassment and secret dealings as he used his influence as a power broker for Hollywood to take advantage of young women.

At the time, Weinstein was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood and helped produce films such as “Pulp Fiction,” “Clerks” and “Shakespeare in Love.” The revelations led to a wave of women speaking out publicly about the prevalence of sexual abuse and harassment, in what became known as the #MeToo movement.

However, #MeToo has had mixed success in court, and this is the second high-profile case to be overturned on appeal. Comedian Bill Cosby was convicted in 2018 of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman, but a Pennsylvania appeals court overturned the conviction in 2021, saying his due process rights were violated.

In addition to the New York case, Weinstein was sentenced last year in Los Angeles to 16 years in prison on charges of rape and sexual assault. That trial also used “previous bad acts” witnesses and was also appealed.

The New York charges were directly based on the testimony of Miriam Haley and Mann. Haley testified that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006 in her Manhattan apartment, and Mann testified that he raped her in 2013 during what she described as an abusive relationship.

Manhattan prosecutors could face some significant challenges in prosecuting the Weinstein case.

Haley said last week that she would consider testifying again in a new trial, but noted the downsides of doing so. After Wednesday's hearing, her attorney, Gloria Allred, said Haley has not yet decided whether she will testify again.

“It involves so much retraumatization and remembering over and over again,” Haley said. “I definitely don’t want to go through that again.”

She continued: “This isn’t just about me. It's a really important case. It's in the public eye, which is difficult for me personally, but important for the collective. Those are the reasons why I would still do it again. I don’t do it just for me.”

Source: CNN Brasil

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