Weinstein’s May 29 court appearance comes weeks after his 2020 rape and sexual assault convictions were overturned in New York state
Etienne Laurent-Pool/Getty
Harvey Weinstein in 2022
Harvey Weinstein appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court today, May 29, where a prosecutor said a new indictment against the disgraced mogul is possible, involving new accusers.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said in court: “People who couldn’t speak out in 2020 are now willing to speak out in 2024.”
The next court appearance for Weinstein, who appeared in a wheelchair and a suit, is a discovery hearing scheduled for July 9.
During the hearing, Weinstein’s attorney Arthur Aidala objected to prosecutors using the term “survivor” while talking about potential new accusers. Instead, he asked prosecutors to use the term “complaining witness.”
The court appearance comes more than a month after Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault convictions in New York state were overturned on April 25.
Weinstein, a once prominent Hollywood producer, was found guilty of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape in a New York City courtroom in February 2020. New York Times reported at the time. He was subsequently sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Related: Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape and sexual assault convictions overturned in New York
Those convictions were overturned after the New York Court of Appeals ruled in a 4-3 decision that Judge James Burke erred by allowing three women whose allegations were not part of the criminal case against Weinstein to testify against him.
Shortly after the reversal, prosecutors announced they would retry the case.
“We believe in this case and we will retry this case,” Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said in court on May 1, according to reporters from CBSReuters and CNN.
Related: New York prosecutors will retry Harvey Weinstein in the fall: ‘We believe in this case’
Despite the overturning of the 2020 convictions, Weinstein has remained behind bars because he was convicted in a separate trial of one count of forcible rape, one count of forcible oral copulation and one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles. The Angeles District Attorney’s Office made the announcement in a 2022 press release.
He was sentenced at the time to a further 16 years in prison Los Angeles Times Previously reported.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit rainn.org.
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