DA will retry Harvey Weinstein after appeals court overturns NY rape conviction

NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors on Wednesday told a judge they will retry disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein following the overturning of his rape and sexual assault conviction and will be ready for trial as soon as this fall.

The decision was announced by prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office at a hearing attended by Weinstein and Jessica Mann, one of two women who he was found guilty of abusing more than four years ago. Bragg, whose predecessor brought the New York case against Weinstein, was also in attendance.

“We believe in this case, and we will be retrying this case,” Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said, asking Judge Curtis Farber to remand the producer.

Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, told the court his client, who was rolled into court in a wheelchair, continues to maintain his innocence.

“I will tell you he’s sharp as a tack, and as smart as he ever was,” the defense attorney side said.

Both sides said they could be ready for a trial by fall.

A state Supreme Court jury determined Weinstein, 72, was guilty of criminal sexual act in the first-degree and third-degree rape on February 24, 2020, finding he forcibly performed oral sex on a woman in 2006 and committed third-degree rape in an incident with another woman in 2013.

But a stunning April 25 decision by the New York Court of Appeals found the trial court judge, James Burke, shouldn’t have permitted three women’s testimony of uncharged, “prior sexual acts,” and further erred by deciding Weinstein could be cross-examined on those allegations if he elected to take the stand in his defense.

The ruling has no bearing on Weinstein’s December 2022 rape and sexual assault conviction in Los Angeles, California, or 16-year prison sentence in that case.

The Miramax founder’s precipitous fall from grace came after bombshell exposes by The New Yorker and The New York Times in late 2017, alleging he abused scores of women throughout his career. The scandal supercharged the #MeToo movement against workplace sexual abuse and harassment committed by men in positions of power.

_____