Weinstein Faces New Sex Crimes Trial as Soon as September - BNN Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) -- Harvey Weinstein faces a new trial as early as September as Manhattan prosecutors told a judge that there was "nothing consensual" about the sexual assault allegations made against him.

Weinstein was back in a Manhattan courtroom Wednesday, days after New York's highest court tossed his 2020 rape and sexual assault convictions. Judge Curtis Farber set another hearing for later this month with an eye toward a trial shortly after the Labor Day holiday.

The reversal by the appellate court marked a stunning turnabout in the highest-profile conviction of the #MeToo era, in which dozens of women came forward to say Weinstein had harassed or assaulted them. 

The New York Court of Appeals said last week that Weinstein hadn't received a fair trial because three women were allowed to testify that they had been assaulted by the movie producer, even though they weren't listed as victims in the criminal indictment.

Nicole Blumberg, a prosecutor for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, told Farber that the appeals court decision was not about the strength of the case, but the admissibility of testimony.

"There was nothing consensual about the conduct in the claims described," Blumberg said. "We believe in this case and will be retrying this case."

One of the women Weinstein was accused of assaulting, actor Jessica Mann, is prepared to testify again, Blumberg said.

"She's not backing down and is committed to seeing that justice is served once again," Blumberg said.

Arthur Aidala, an attorney for Weinstein, said his 72-year-old client - who was brought to court from a city hospital shackled to a wheelchair - has serious medical issues, but remains "sharp as a tack." 

He's "smart as he ever was" and wants to prove his innocence, Aidala said.

Aidala said the fact that Weinstein, who had been serving a 23-year sentence, was acquitted of the most serious counts at the 2020 New York trial, in addition to the appellate court ruling, may cast doubt upon a separate conviction in California.

"If that doesn't call for a brand new trial, I don't know what does," Aidala said.

Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in California after being found guilty of rape in 2022.

The New York appeals court decision was a blow to prosecutors' use of witnesses who describe conduct that isn't part of the specific underlying charges but is offered to bolster them. During the trial, prosecutors argued that Weinstein had a long history of using his position as a producer to lure women to hotel rooms or his offices and then assault them. 

The three women whose testimony wasn't part of the charges told the court of attacks on them, which prosecutors used as "prior bad acts" to support the accounts of the women who were described in the indictment.

(Updates with background.)

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