Former US producer Harvey Weinstein, the deposed king who is already in prison for rape and sexual assault, pleaded guilty on Wednesday, September 18. “not guilty” of a new charge of sexually assaulting a woman in 2006, in a Manhattan court where he will be retried at a later date.
Weinstein, 72, who underwent heart surgery last week in New York, where he is incarcerated, arrived visibly weakened, unshaven and in a wheelchair to hear the reading of this new accusation of sexual crimes.
Decided by a grand jury – citizens participating in the investigation alongside prosecutors – this accusation adds to a long list of accusations since 2017 for which he has already been tried and convicted twice, in New York and Los Angeles.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged him this time with “the sexual assault of a woman in a hotel in lower Manhattan, on a single occasion, between April 29 and May 6, 2006”according to a press release. “Thanks to this surviving victim who bravely testified, Harvey Weinstein now stands accused of another alleged violent sexual assault”the magistrate thundered.
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, the fallen producer’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, stressed that the sexual assault for which his client is now being prosecuted dates back to “almost two decades and currently [il] I don’t mind[vait] no more than that”.
The fall of the once all-powerful American film producer sent shockwaves around the world, liberated the voices of many victims and exposed sexual and gender-based violence against women.
The former head of Miramax studios is due to stand trial again in New York following the sweeping overturn in late April by an appeals court of his 2020 conviction for the rape of an actress, Jessica Mann, and the sexual assault of a production assistant, Mimi Haleyi.
Questioned by eighty women
This surprise change was seen as an affront and a step backwards for the #MeToo movement.
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The date of November 12 was mentioned for a new trial in New York – including the accusation this Wednesday – but the prosecutor estimated on Wednesday that it was not “unrealistic” The judge set the next hearing for October 2, according to a journalist from Agence France-Presse who was present in the courtroom.
More than eighty women have accused Weinstein of harassment, sexual assault or rape, including actresses Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd. Actress Jessica Mann has already announced that she will testify against the accused again in a new trial.
Until then, Mr. Weinstein remains behind bars as he was also sentenced in Los Angeles in 2023 to sixteen years in prison for separate cases of rape and sexual assault. He appealed and always maintained that those sexual relations were consensual.
