Processes
Harvey Weinstein’s court date next week
Harvey Weinstein is said to have forced a woman to perform oral sex in 2006 and raped a woman in 2013, among other things. photo
© Mark Lennihan/AP/dpa
From prison to court: Harvey Weinstein is scheduled to appear in court next week following the surprise overturn of his sex crimes conviction. A new process is possible.
Just under a week after the surprising overturning of the conviction of The former film mogul is set to appear in court for sex crimes against Harvey Weinstein by an appeals judge. The public prosecutor’s office said a hearing was scheduled for next Wednesday in Manhattan court, as US media consistently reported.
Weinstein’s spokesman Juda Engelmayer announced that the 72-year-old had already been moved from a prison in northern New York state closer to the metropolis to Rikers Island. The notification was available to the dpa. Engelmayer explains that they are ready for a new trial if it comes to that. In this process there would be fewer accusations and Weinstein would have better cards.
An appeals court surprisingly overturned Weinstein’s historic 2020 conviction on Thursday. By a narrow majority, the panel found that procedural errors had been made in the process at the time.
The allegations against Weinstein
At the time, there were two main allegations: Weinstein is said to have forced production assistant Mimi Haleyi to perform oral sex in 2006 and to have raped current hairdresser Jessica Mann in 2013. In fact, in the case that attracted worldwide attention, the public prosecutor’s office also relied on a number of witnesses who accused Weinstein of sexual assault, although they were not part of the indictment. This was intended to show that Weinstein’s actions followed a recurring pattern.
Despite Thursday’s decision, Weinstein remains in prison. In a second criminal trial in Los Angeles, which also involved sex crimes, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2023 – in addition to the 23 years in New York.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg must now decide whether to initiate a new case against Weinstein. A spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office said they would do “everything in our power to retry this case.”
Haleyi: Overturning the verdict “devastating”
Former production assistant Mimi Haleyi, one of the prosecution’s main witnesses, testified in tears in the New York trial and described Weinstein’s alleged abuses to the jury. At a joint press conference with her lawyer Gloria Allred, Haleyi said that she was considering testifying again at another trial, even though the experience had been “traumatizing” and “frightening.”
The overturning of the verdict against Weinstein was “devastating”. The judges sent an “extremely discouraging” message for victims of sexual violence everywhere.
The first Weinstein trial marked a milestone in legal history. The case played a key role in triggering the #MeToo movement. Since 2017, more than 80 women have publicly accused Weinstein of sexual assault.