By Philip Marcelo
Harvey Weinstein ‘s retrial on sex crimes charges in Manhattan won’t start until at least next year — and his lawyer plans to hire a private investigator to look into a new allegation against the movie mogul that will now be part of the case.
The new details came as Weinstein appeared in court Wednesday for a pretrial hearing.
Weinstein was already facing retrial on two sex crime charges after the state’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction earlier this year. Then in September, he was hit with a new charge accusing him of another assault. He has pleaded not guilty.
On Wednesday, Judge Curtis Farber granted a prosecution request to consolidate both cases and said he’ll decide on a new trial date by Jan. 29, 2025.
The trial had been tentatively scheduled to open on Nov. 12, but Weinstein’s lawyers said they needed more time after the new charge was added, asking for a date in March or April.
“We’re going to need some time to investigate the case, hire a private investigator and dig more into discovery,” said Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala.
Prosecutors said they were not opposed to that date, but are prepared to go to trial in January.
Weinstein was convicted on charges that he forcibly performed oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006, and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actor in 2013. In the new charge, prosecutors say he forced oral sex on a different woman in a Manhattan hotel in the spring of 2006.
After the court hearing, Aidala said they haven’t officially been told of the new accuser’s identity.
Lindsay Goldbrum, an attorney who represents the accuser, previously said the woman has never made her accusation public and doesn’t want to be identified for now, though she “will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office had argued that holding a separate trial on the new charge would be “extraordinarily inefficient” and waste judicial resources. Weinstein’s lawyers contended in court papers that the cases should remain separate, accusing prosecutors are attempting to transform the retrial into “an entirely new proceeding.”
Weinstein has been in custody at the city’s Rikers Island jail complex and has faced numerous health complications while behind bars.
He was also convicted of rape in Los Angeles in 2022, though his lawyers have appealed.
The sexual assault and harassment allegations against Weinstein turbocharged the #MeToo movement in 2017.
The 72-year-old former producer co-founded the film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company. He produced films including “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Crying Game.”
AP
