Harvey Weinstein Will Again Stand Trial in New York After Overturned Rape Conviction
Brian Welk
Harvey Weinstein is expected to stand trial again in New York after his previous conviction was overturned by New York’s top appeals court.
Weinstein appeared in court today, May 1 for a hearing, his first time appearing in New York court since he was convicted back in 2020. Weinstein was in a wheelchair and was seated next to his lawyer Arthur Aidala, who told the court Weinstein has “very, very serious medical issues” but is still mentally sharp and could end up testifying on his own behalf in a new trial.
Judge Curtis Faber set a hearing for discovery for May 29, at which point prosecutors will also file a certificate of compliance. If filed by that date, the judge expects a trial could begin at some point after Labor Day.
Jessica Mann, one of the women who testified in the original case against Weinstein, was also present in the courthouse on Wednesday. Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg pointed to Mann to say that she was here because she believes in the case and in seeing “justice served” again.
The DA seeks to bring a new trial against Weinstein as soon as possible. The prior New York conviction was on charges of forcibly performing oral sex on a production assistant in 2006 and rape in the third degree of an aspiring actress in 2013, which carried a 23-year sentence.
Last week, Weinstein was sent to Bellevue Hospital after his conviction was overturned. But he remains in custody, as Weinstein also has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for a separate rape trial in Los Angeles. It remains to be seen whether that conviction could similarly be overturned on appeal.
The New York appeals court ruled there were “egregious errors” committed in the original trial, saying women who were speaking to sexual acts unrelated to the rape charge should not have been allowed to testify. Weinstein’s lawyers argued Weinstein could not take the defense stand on the actual charges without also being cross-examined on the uncharged accusations.
The ruling was overturned on a narrow 4-3 vote, and the dissenting judges said the ruling was part of a “disturbing trend of overturning juries’ guilty verdicts in cases involving sexual violence.”
Aidala last week said the overturned conviction was a “great day for America.”
“Harvey Weinstein did not get a fair trial,” he said. “It may sound like exaggeration but it’s not: Today’s legal ruling is a great day for America because it instills in us the faith that there is a justice system.”
