NEW YORK — A grand jury has indicted Harvey Weinstein on additional sex crimes, prosecutors announced in a New York court on Thursday.
Prosecutors said the charges will remain secret until the disgraced Hollywood movie mogul can stand trial. Defense attorney Arthur Aidala said all he knows about the new charges is that they could include up to three additional allegations dating back to 2005.
Weinstein was not in court on Thursday because the 72-year-old was due to die on Monday taken from Rikers Island to Bellevue Hospital for emergency surgery to remove fluid from his heart and lungs. Aidala told the judge that Weinstein was “near death” prior to the procedure.
Weinstein awaits new trial on rape and sexual abuse charges in New York City after the state’s highest appeals court overturned his 2020 conviction, in which he served a 23-year prison sentenceThe judge set a trial date for November 12, although the defense had postponed that date.
“Ethically, we can’t be done,” Aidala said. “What we’re asking, and we’ve been asking from the beginning, because they floated the idea early on — ‘Oh, we’re going to take it to other people out there’ — is that we have to go to court for the original case, as always happens when a case is overturned. He’s not good. I mean, I know lawyers are sometimes known for exaggerating. I can’t exaggerate heart surgery. I can’t exaggerate lung surgery. He was in the ICU.”
The judge ruled that Weinstein will remain in Bellevue for treatment for the time being. A hearing on his health is scheduled for September 18.
Prosecutor Jessica Mann, who testified at the first trial and attended other recent hearings, issued a statement later Thursday that said in part: “This decision demonstrates once again that people who abuse their positions of power cannot avoid justice; they can only sometimes delay it through means such as wealth, fame and connections.”
Weinstein conviction overturned
Weinsteins 2020 conviction was overturned this spring after the state Supreme Court ruled that the judge in the original trial improperly allowed testimony about other allegations that were not part of the case.
Weinstein was found guilty of sexually abusing an assistant in 2006 and raping an aspiring actor in 2013.
After the case in New York is concluded, Weinstein is expected to return to California to serve his sentence. his upcoming sentence of 16 years for a separate conviction for rape.
Alice Winner
