A Manhattan judge tentatively set a trial date for Manhattan prosecutors’ do-over against Harvey Weinstein on rape and sexual assault charges on Friday.
State Supreme Court Judge Curtis Farber estimated jury selection would begin on Nov. 12, and the final pretrial conference would proceed the week before. Weinstein’s lawyers said they wanted it to begin in September.
“I want both sides to start planning ahead,” Farber said, adding he wanted no interruptions.
Barry Williams for New York Daily News
Weinstein attorney Arthur Aidala speaks to the media outside court in May. (Barry Williams for New York Daily News)
Weinstein, in thick-framed black glasses and a navy suit, was expressionless. He high-fived his PR man Juda Engelmayer when he was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair carrying a brown folder.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office in May said it would retry Weinstein after the Court of Appeals overturned the fallen movie mogul’s 2020 rape and sexual assault conviction in April. The stunning opinion found the trial court judge erred in allowing testimony by three women at the landmark trial about uncharged allegations of sexual violence.
Following his New York trial, at which a jury found him guilty of forcibly performing oral sex on a former production assistant in 2006 and raping an aspiring actress in 2013, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison. Weinstein was then tried in Los Angeles on separate charges, leading to his second conviction in December 2022 for rape and sexual assault and an additional 16-year sentence.
His successful appeal in New York had no bearing on his California case.
At a hearing last month, the DA’s office said they may bring a superseding indictment, including new charges relating to victims unprepared to go through the legal process the last time.
