Weinstein facing more charges as women who 'weren't ready to speak' in 2020 come forward

Harvey Weinstein is facing the possibility of a new indictment as the Manhattan’s District Attorney’s Office has received complaints from women who were not ready to speak out in 2020.

The disgraced film producer, 72, dressed in a navy suit, white shirt and blue tie, appeared in New York Supreme Criminal Court on Wednesday where he was brought out in a wheelchair and without handcuffs.

Prosecutors told the court he could face a new indictment as it is ‘actively investigating’ more claims of sexual assault against Weinstein and will be in a position to clarify at the end of June.

‘Some people who were not ready to speak out in 2020 now appear to do so in 2024,’ Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg told the court.

‘We’ll speak to advisors as to what falls within the statute of limitations and we will do everything in our power to make sure every survivor's identity is protected.’

Judge Curtis Farber ordered him to return to court on July 9 and remanded him in jail without bail.

Harvey Weinstein is facing the possibility of a new indictment as the Manhattan’s District Attorney’s Office has received complaints from women who were not ready to speak out in 2020

Prosecutor Blumberg also accused Weinstein’s lawyers of intending to intimidate witnesses in the upcoming trial by making public statements which attack their ‘credibility and character’.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office filed a letter on Thursday which asked the judge to urge the defense attorneys to stop.

‘It's the people's position that it is especially critical now that your honor address this as in recent years survivors have disclosed being sexually assaulted by the defendant.

But Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala disputed the claims and said: ‘Survivors, that’s already a conclusive term. Not a witness, a survivor.’

He then accused the prosecution of doing exactly what they claim he did.

‘That means somebody has already endured some sort of pain.

‘In 32 years, no one has ever had to remind me of my ethical obligations. However, I am in a very unique position.

‘Unlike the other trial going on in this courthouse where half is for one person and half is against, there aren’t too many fans of Mr Weinstein.

‘I made some statements about a witness who testified in the last case. It is our position that lies were told in the last trial. I didn’t say anything to intimidate anyone.

‘I just said here’s the truth, witnesses who testified the first time and lied on the stand will be re-examined on the stand.’

Aidala added: ‘The other thing I am up against is the prosecution has their own media machine.

‘Your honor I am aware of my ethical obligations and my rights and Mr Weinstein’s rights to have someone zealously defending him.

‘I can’t sit by and have mouthpieces for the DA’s office, take the microphone and beat him up when no one is there to defend him.

‘He said he is innocent from day one and he is saying he is innocent today. He turned into the poster boy for an international movement.’

Prosecutor Blumberg responded and said: ‘My objection is not what he says in the courtroom, it is leaving and making public statements outside in a press conference specifically designed to intimidate witnesses.’

Judge Farber said: ‘Both sides are entitled to a fair trial. This can only be attained if the pool of jurors is free of taint.

‘Both sides are directed to refrain from pandering to the press.

‘It will be a court of law alone when justice is to be served and not a court of opinion.’    

The disgraced film producer, 72, dressed in a navy suit, white shirt and blue tie, appeared in New York Supreme Criminal Court on Wednesday where he was brought out in a wheelchair and without handcuffs

Prosecutors told the court he could face a new indictment as it is ‘actively investigating’ more claims of sexual assault against Weinstein and will be in a position to clarify at the end of June

It comes after Weinstein refused to be extradited to Los Angeles on May 9 to serve a prison sentence for a rape he was convicted of in California in 2022.

The New York Court of Appeals threw out his 2020 rape conviction on April 25 after ruling he did not receive a fair trial- effectively erasing his 23-year prison sentence and ordering a retrial.

But he remains in prison as he was found guilty of the rape and sexual assault of Italian actress and model Evgeniya Chernyshova in Los Angeles and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Following an extradition hearing in Queens earlier this month, Weinstein’s defense attorney Diana Samson said: 'He's not a fugitive in the colloquialism of the word, that's just the language they used.

'They are not in a position to extradite Weinstein right now because they have not done what they needed to do.

'Our main concern is that Mr Weinstein is here in New York so that we can prepare for the trial.'

Weinstein is in custody in Rikers Island in New York City following the quashed conviction and Judge Farber set a tentative trial date for after Labor day, meaning it could take place in September.

April's ruling concluded that a trial judge permitted jurors to see and hear too much evidence not directly related to the charges he faced.

Manhattan prosecutors intend to retry him on charges that he forcibly performed oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and raped an aspiring actor in 2013.

After his New York conviction was overturned he cried tears of joy and insisted he wasn't a rapist, his spokesman has said.

Prosecutor Blumberg also accused Weinstein’s lawyers (pictured) of intending to intimidate witnesses in the upcoming trial by making public statements which attack their ‘credibility and character’

But Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala (pictured) disputed the claims and said he was just defending his client

Weinstein has been serving 23 years in a New York jail for the two sex attacks against aspiring actress Jessica Mann and production assistant Mimi Haleyi.

He was handed a further 16 years after a jury in LA found him guilty of three rape and sexual assault charges in 2022.

In a sign of how significant the case is, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg walked into court on May 1 and sat in the second row of the public gallery.

Jessica Mann, who testified against Weinstein in the trial - he was convicted for third degree rape on her - was sitting on the same row as Bragg.

Prosecutor Blumberg told the court that they were asking for Weinstein to be remanded in custody.

They called it a 'Strong case in 2020 when the defendant was tried and convicted' and it 'remains a strong case in 2024.'

The court heard that the appeal ruling was 'non equivocal on the issue of consent' and there was 'nothing consensual about the conduct complainants described'.

Prosecutors told the court: 'We believe in this case and will be trying this case.'

'Jessica Mann is here in court. She's here to show she's not backing down and is committed to seeing justice is served again.

'The defendant may have power and privilege but she has the truth. We have every belief the defendant will be convicted again after trial.'

Prosecutors said that they wanted the trial to happen in the fall, possibly September.

Weinstein's lawyer Aidala told the court: 'We're not asking for bail. Mr Weinstein has very very serious medical issues'.

He praised the Department of Corrections for taking care of Weinstein's needs.

He said: 'He's sharp as a tack. He's as smart as he ever was. He's read hundreds and hundreds of books. I have no issue whatsoever about his mental abilities.'

Aidala dismissed the idea it was a 'strong case' and said that Weinstein was cleared of the most serious charges including first degree rape.

Aidala claimed that Mimi Haleyi, whose claims led to Weinstein being found guilty of criminal sexual act, may have perjured herself during the trial.

According to Aidala, Weinstein recently told him: 'Let's go to trial and prove my innocence.'

As Weinstein was wheeled out on May 1- he was not in handcuffs or leg shackles - he shook hands with all of his legal team, one by one, and gave a thumbs up to his spokesman, who was sitting at the end of the row.

Mann stared directly at him.

Weinstein’s lawyers are appealing the only conviction now remaining in Los Angeles.

Judge Curtis Farber ordered him to return to court on July 9 and remanded him in jail without bail. Pictured: Weinstein at an extradition hearing on May 9 

Weinstein had his hands cuffed as he was pushed in a wheelchair out of a prison van and into a courthouse in Manhattan at his previous court appearance

His 2020 conviction was overturned by a state appeal court

'A jury was told in California that he was convicted in another state for rape ... turns out he shouldn’t have been convicted and it wasn’t a fair conviction,' attorney Jennifer Bonjean, whose arguments freed Bill Cosby in his appeal on Pennsylvania sex assault convictions said.

'It interfered with his presumption of innocence in a significant way in California.'

Chernyshova described in tearful testimony how Weinstein attacked her in a hotel room during a film festival in 2013.

Jurors rejected the allegations of another woman and couldn’t reach verdicts on two others, including those of a documentary filmmaker married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

During his four years in jail Weinstein has been beset by health issues including heart problems, mobility issues and diabetes.

He was taken to Bellevue Hospital in New York in April where doctors conducted a slew of tests on him.

Attorney Arthur Aidala said Weinstein was moved to the hospital after his arrival into Rikers Island.

Aidala said: 'They examined him and sent him to Bellevue. It seems like he needs a lot of help, physically. He's got a lot of problems. He's getting all kinds of tests. He's somewhat of a train wreck health wise.'

'He was not treated well. They refused to give him even a sip of water, no food, no bathroom break,' Aidala said. 'He's a 72-year-old sickly man.'

But he was returned to Rikers in what his publicist said was the result from a published report claiming he was getting VIP treatment during his 10-day stay at a hospital.

Weinstein's jail consultant Craig Rothfeld insisted: 'We want to clear up a lot of misconceptions. None of us have any influence over the healthcare that is provided to Mr Weinstein.

'We do not influence the New York City Department of Corrections, the attorneys and I don't influence correctional health services, we do not influence New York City health and hospitals.

'All of those decisions are made by those individual organizations without our input, without consulting with us, without asking for our opinions.

'There have been a lot of rumors about having a cushy room, there have been false narratives about what that room is like and we just want to make sure everybody understands that these decisions are made by those organizations.'

He added: 'He [Weinstein] has very serious health issues. Since the day he was incarcerated he has been in a hospital-like setting.

'So the notion that he should or should not be at Bellevue is really not a narrative that makes sense.'

Weinstein was once the most powerful man in Hollywood who made hits like Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love with his film companies Miramax and The Weinstein Co.

He dominated Hollywood in the 1990s and won 81 Oscars as he became part of the world elite and grew especially close to Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Now The Weinstein Co. is bankrupt, his wife Georgina Chapman has divorced him and his empire is in ruins.

One of Weinstein's main accusers in the case, Haleyi, has said she is unsure if she is ready to testify again should the case be retried.

The reversal of his conviction is the second major #MeToo setback in the last two years, after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a Pennsylvania court decision to throw out Cosby's sexual assault conviction.

Weinstein's conviction stood for more than four years, heralded by activists and advocates as a milestone achievement, but dissected just as quickly by his lawyers and, later, the Court of Appeals when it heard arguments on the matter in February.

New York State of Appeals Chief Judge Janet DiFiore ruled that Weinstein's appeal could proceed in 2022.

At the time, his lawyer Arthur Aidala argued that women who did not form part of the criminal allegations should not have been allowed to take the stand and testify about alleged sex abuse by his client.

He also alleged that one juror did not disclose they'd previously written a book on sexual predators, which he said should have disqualified them from serving.

Weinstein denied the charges against him and insisted that his relations with the women were consensual.

More than 80 women came forward to accuse the Oscar-winning producer of sexual assault and harassment.

The allegations first surfaced publicly in a New York Times story in 2017 detailing decades of alleged abuse.

Actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd were among those who were named in the piece as accusers.

The allegations sparked a sea change in attitudes towards sexual misconduct in the workplace.

ENDS