CANCER-STRICKEN Harvey Weinstein has been captured with grubby stained clothes in court ahead of his #MeToo rape retrial.
The monster’s retrial next month will predominantly be a condensed version of the original – but also includes a charge based on an allegation from a woman who wasn’t a part of the first case.
EPAFormer film producer Harvey Weinstein appears for a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City[/caption]
AFPWeinstein’s grubby suit[/caption]
Weinstein captured flashing a toothless grin wearing a stained navy suit in court on WednesdayAP
Weinstein has been captured flashing a toothless grin while shamelessly wearing a stained navy suit in court on Wednesday.
At the hearing, a judge was set to issue rulings on various issues, including the scope of accuser testimony and potential expert witnesses.
Sick Weinstein, 72, was in court for the hearing that started over an hour late after Judge Curtis Farber met with the prosecution and defense privately to speak of matters still under seal.
Those included a prosecution request that two of the three accusers in the case be permitted to testify about other alleged encounters with the disgraced producer.
They also had conversations on evidence of the accusers’ sexual history, which prosecutors argue should be barred under New York’s Rape Shield Law.
Weinstein’s retrial is to start April 15 in state court in Manhattan, almost a year after New York’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges.
At his last court appearance in January, Weinstein pleaded with the court to move his retrial forwards because of his rapidly declining health.
The disgraced producer pleaded at a hearing in state court in Manhattan: “Everyday I’m at Rikers Island [prison], it’s a mystery to me how I’m still walking.
“I’m holding on because I want justice for myself and I want this to be over with.
“I’m asking and begging you, your honor, to move your trial.”
And on Wednesday Weinstein arrived to court in a wheelchair, wearing a grubby suit and clutching a stack of documents.
Prior to his hearing beginning, the sick monster sat behind the defense table and watched as Farber resolved another matter that had been delayed by their closed-door discussions for a few minutes.
Weinstein is being retried on charges alleging he forcibly performed oral sex on an assistant in 2006 as well as the rape of an aspiring actor in 2013.
The additional charge, filed last September, alleges he forced oral sex on a different woman at a Manhattan hotel in 2006.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said in court papers that the woman, who has not been identified publicly, came forward to prosecutors just days before the start of Weinstein’s first trial.
She was not part of that case.
Prosecutors said they didn’t pursue the women’s allegations after he was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison – but they revisited them and secured a new indictment after the states Court of Appeals overturned his conviction last April.
Judge Farber ruled in October to combine the new indictment and existing charges into one trial.
Weinstein’s lawyers claim that prosecutors prejudiced him by waiting nearly five years to bring the additional charge, suggesting they had elected not to include the allegation in his first trial so they could use it later if his conviction were reversed.
How Weinstein sparked the #MeToo movement
In October 2017, The New York Times published a bombshell article where numerous actresses alleged abuse at the hands of Harvey Weinstein.
Soon after, the actress Alyssa Milano asked women who have been sexually assaulted or harassed to share the words “Me Too” on social media.
The request quickly became a movement – with actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lawrence, and Uma Thurman all sharing their harrowing stories.
It was later revealed that “Me Too” was first used by activity Tarana Burke in 2006 to describe her sexual assault.
The media firestorm led to many media executives losing their positions, alongside backlash over whether the accusations were being properly investigated.
Weinstein remained at the center of it all and was one of the few who was hit with criminal charges.
A top executive who produced films like Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, and The Lord of the Rings, activist felt he was the perfect representation of how power and influence could be used for evil.
The sickly 72-year-old has denied that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone.
Despite his pleas of innocence, a jury convicted Weinstein on February 24, 2020, of two criminal charges of rape and sexual assault.
He was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Years later, this verdict was overruled by the New York Court of Appeals.
They found Weinstein didn’t receive a fair trial as prosecutors called multiple women as witnesses who fired off accusations at Weinstein that had nothing to do with his charges.
The testimonies “destroyed” his past character and were “an abuse of judicial discretion,” the judges announced.
Prosecutors revisited the case and secured a new indictment which included the third alleged victim.
Judge Farber ruled to combine the new indictment and the existing charges into one overarching trial.
APHarvey Weinstein smiling as he appears for a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court[/caption]
EPAWeinstein (L) with his attorney Jennifer Bonjean (C) at Manhattan Criminal Court[/caption]
APMonster Weinstein sporting the grubby suit on Wednesday[/caption]
This latest court hearing is also separate to Weinstein’s 2022 Los Angeles conviction for rape and sexual assault.
He was sentenced to 16 years in jail in the globally known case and has been held in the notorious Rikers Island prison ever since.
The LA case, which made Weinstein a convicted sex offender, came nearly three years after his guilty New York verdict.
His legal team have also launched an appeal against the verdict in June, claiming he was not fairly tried.
Weinstein’s latest case comes as the infamous Hollywood chief continues to battle with a range of serious health issues.
He has only left his cold new home behind bars on a handful of occasions in the past two years – mainly to visit hospital.
In October, it was announced he has been undergoing treatment in Rikers Island for Chronic myeloid leukemia – a type of cancer of the bone marrow.
A month earlier he was rushed into emergency heart surgery after a significant amount of fluid had built up in his lungs and heart.
The convicted rapist was left “near death” and wheelchair-bound.
Across the past 12 months he has also been hospitalised by Covid-19, bouts of double pneumonia and diabetes.
Weinstein labelled his time behind bars at Rikers Island as a “medieval situation” in court today.
He warned he “won’t be there for April” as he cited his cancer battle.
Harvey Weinstein Trial Timeline
October 2017: The New York Times reports the film mogul, whose Miramax film company won its first Oscar in 1997 for The English Patient, has reached legal settlements with eight women who accused him of sexual harassment spanning over 30 years. He is fired from his company, his wife leaves him, and the #MeToo movement is born.
May 2018: Weinstein was arrested on charges of rape and a criminal sex act involving alleged assaults of two women.
June 2018: He pleads not guilty to both charges and a third charge. One of them is eventually dropped.
December 2019: Weinstein agrees to a $25 million settlement with a number of women who accused him of wrongdoing.
January 2020: The Los Angeles County District Attorney announces a criminal indictment against Weinstein.
That same month, Weinstein’s New York trial began.
February 2020: After five days of deliberation, a jury in New York convicted Weinstein of rape in the third degree and sexual assault in the first degree.
March 2020: Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years and transferred to maximum security prison.
October 2022: Weinstein’s Los Angeles trial begins.
December 2022: A jury convicts Weinstein of raping a model in 2013.
February 2023: Weinstein is sentenced to an additional 16 years in prison.
April 2024: His New York conviction is overturned by a New York Appeals Court, and a new trial is ordered.
July 2024: A judge sets Weinstein’s retrial for November 12.
September 2024: Prosecutors announced new charges against Weinstein.
January 2025: Weinstein appears back in court ahead of a retrial on his 2020 New York case
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