NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein is back in court in New York on Wednesday for a hearing ahead of his retrial on sex crimes charges stemming from his landmark #MeToo case.
After the hearing got underway, Judge Curtis Farber granted a prosecution request to consolidate that case and a newer charge into a single trial.
The former movie mogul was facing retrial on two sex crime charges after the state’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction earlier this year. Then in September, he was hit with a new charge accusing him of another assault. He has pleaded not guilty.
Weinstein was convicted on charges that he forcibly performed oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006, and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actor in 2013. In the new charge, prosecutors say he forced oral sex on a different woman in a Manhattan hotel in the spring of 2006.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office had argued in court filings that holding separate trials would be “extraordinarily inefficient” and waste judicial resources. Prosecutors said the cases have significant overlap as they involve similar criminal statutes, witnesses, expert testimony and documentary evidence.
Weinstein’s lawyers had argued in court filings that the cases should remain separate. They said prosecutors are attempting to “expand the scope” of the court-ordered retrial and transform it into “an entirely new proceeding” by including the new charges.
There’s also the question of when Weinstein’s retrial is expected to actually begin.
Faber had tentatively scheduled Weinstein’s trial to open on Nov. 12, but both defense lawyers and prosecutors have voiced concerns the date won’t give their side enough time to prepare.
Weinstein has been in custody at the city’s Rikers Island jail complex and has faced numerous health complications while behind bars.
He was also convicted of rape in Los Angeles in 2022, though his lawyers have appealed.
The sexual assault and harassment allegations against Weinstein turbocharged the #MeToo movement in 2017.
The 72-year-old former producer co-founded the film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company. He produced films including “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Crying Game.”
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