As reported by The Associated Press, former film producer Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced progenitor of the #MeToo movement, faced new sex crime charges in New York. Said charges, which are said to be under seal, were announced by Manhattan prosecutors during a court hearing on Thursday (Sept. 12). The indictment involved additional accusations and multiple accusers prepared to testify against the 72-year-old, who is recovering from emergency heart surgery and was absent during the legal proceedings.
According to the publication, prosecutors are retrying Weinstein following the overturning of his 2020 rape conviction by New York's highest court back in April. They began presenting evidence to a grand jury regarding up to three additional allegations dating back to the mid-2000s. These include alleged sexual assaults at various locations in Manhattan between 2005 and 2016. The exact nature of the new charges could be unsealed as early as Sept. 18.
Weinstein's defense team expressed uncertainty about the specifics. “We don’t know anything,” attorney Arthur Aidala stated. “We don’t know what the exact accusations are, the exact locations are, [or] what the timing is.” Prosecutors aimed to combine the new charges with previous ones for a joint trial – a move that Weinstein's lawyers opposed. Aidala added that the defense would not be ready for a November trial on the recent allegations, citing a specific filing law that could trigger a 45-day delay.
The aforementioned news came a week after the United Kingdom’s Crown Prosecution Service announced they would no longer pursue indecent assault charges against Weinstein. His health has also become a significant factor in the case, with Judge Curtis Farber granting a request for Weinstein to remain at Bellevue Hospital indefinitely due to a myriad of medical conditions.
“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,” Barry Kamins, another rep for Weinstein's legal team, told the judge. “It would be a travesty of justice.”