Harvey Weinstein indicted on additional sex crimes charges ahead of New York retrial

NEW YORK (AP) — Disgraced ex-movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on additional sex crimes charges in New York ahead of a retrial in his landmark #MeToo case, Manhattan prosecutors said at a court hearing Thursday. The indictment will remain under seal until Weinstein is arraigned on the new charges, which could happen as early as Sept. 18. Weinstein, 72, is recovering from emergency heart surgery Monday at a Manhattan hospital to remove fluid on his heart and lungs and was not at Thursday’s hearing. Prosecutors retrying Weinstein’s overturned rape conviction disclosed last week that they had begun presenting to a grand jury evidence of up to three additional allegations against Weinstein, dating as far back as the mid-2000s. “We don’t know anything,” Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said outside court. “We don’t know what the exact accusations are, the exact locations are, what the timing is.” In April, New York’s highest court overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women and ordered a new trial. Weinstein’s lawyers oppose that, arguing that prosecutors were seeking to bolster their original case with additional charges involving other accusers. By law, he said, they’ll have 45 days to file court papers challenging the prosecution’s request to try the original and new indictments at the same time, pushing the fight into the weeks before a possible trial. Weinstein’s new charges come after prosecutors in Britain announced last week that they would no longer pursue charges of indecent assault against Weinstein, who was the most prominent villain of the #MeToo movement in 2017 when women began going public with accounts of his behavior. Also Thursday, Judge Curtis Farber granted a defense request to have the ailing Weinstein remain at Bellevue Hospital indefinitely instead of being moved back to the infirmary ward at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex. Weinstein’s surgery Monday came after his third trip to Bellevue Hospital to have fluid drained, Farber said. “If Mr. Weinstein dies because no one has taken the authority to stop what may be the death of Mr. Weinstein because of this back-and-forth transfer from one institution to another, it would be a miscarriage of justice to say the least,” Weinstein’s lawyer Barry Kamins told Farber. “It would be a travesty of justice.” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office had signaled for months that new charges were imminent against Weinstein, who was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, having produced films such as “Pulp Fiction” and “The Crying Game.” In July, prosecutors told a judge they were actively pursuing claims of rape that occurred in Manhattan within the statute of limitations. In vacating Weinstein’s conviction, New York’s Court of Appeals ruled that the trial judge, James M. Burke, unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations from other women that were not part of the case. In a statement, she said the new charges “show that this Grand Jury, like so many others, can see clearly through his facade for what he truly is: a predator who must be held accountable for his crimes.” “For those who continue to have the courage to come forward against Harvey, you are not alone,” Mann said. “I will stand alongside you as we fight for a future where monsters like Harvey no longer hide in our closets, they sit alone behind bars.” It’s unclear if the second accuser, Mimi Haley, would participate. Weinstein, who had been serving a 23-year sentence in New York when his conviction was quashed, was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://apnews.com/76b7b85baf0472a2a3571824b100b5d9