Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan criminal court in New York on April 21, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

Harvey Weinstein was taken to hospital on Monday for treatment after an “alarming” blood test result.

Disgraced ex-movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on additional sex crimes charges in New York ahead of a retrial in his landmark #MeToo case, Manhattan prosecutors said at a court hearing Thursday (September 12, 2024).

The indictment will remain under seal until Weinstein is arraigned on the new charges, which could happen as early as Sept 18. Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg disclosed in court that the indictment charges “Mr Weinstein with additional crimes” and that multiple accusers are prepared to testify against him.

Weinstein, 72, is recovering from emergency heart surgery Monday at a Manhattan hospital to remove fluid on his heart and lungs and was not at Thursday’s hearing.

Prosecutors retrying Weinstein’s overturned rape conviction disclosed last week that they had begun presenting to a grand jury evidence of up to three additional allegations against Weinstein, dating as far back as the mid-2000s.

They include alleged sexual assaults at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, now known as the Roxy Hotel, and in a Lower Manhattan residential building between late 2005 and mid-2006, and an alleged sexual assault at a Tribeca hotel in May 2016.

Because the indictment is under seal, it was not known whether the new charges involved some or all of the additional allegations.

“We don’t know anything,” Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said outside court. “We don’t know what the exact accusations are, the exact locations are, what the timing is.”

In April, New York’s highest court overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women and ordered a new trial. Weinstein’s retrial is tentatively scheduled to begin Nov. 12.

Prosecutors said they would seek to combine any new charges with ones previously brought against Weinstein so that they could be tried together. Weinstein’s lawyers oppose that, arguing that prosecutors were seeking to bolster their original case with additional charges involving other accusers.

Defence to challenge trial on new charges

Aidala said Weinstein’s defence team won’t be ready to go to trial in November on the new charges. By law, he said, they’ll have 45 days to file court papers challenging the prosecution’s request to try the original and new indictments at the same time, pushing the fight into the weeks before a possible trial.

Weinstein’s new charges come after prosecutors in Britain announced last week that they would no longer pursue charges of indecent assault against Weinstein, who was the most prominent villain of the #MeToo movement in 2017 when women began going public with accounts of his behavior.

Weinstein, who co-founded the film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.

Also Thursday, Judge Curtis Farber granted a defense request to have the ailing Weinstein remain at Bellevue Hospital indefinitely instead of being moved back to the infirmary ward at New York City’s Rikers Island jail complex. Farber also ordered Weinstein’s attending physician at Rikers Island to testify at a closed-door hearing about the ex-studio boss’ health issues.

Weinstein’s surgery Monday came after his third trip to Bellevue Hospital to have fluid drained, Farber said. He has a variety of maladies requiring medication and treatment that causes him to retain water in his arms, legs, abdomen and around his heart, and he needs constant monitoring to ensure the buildup of fluids isn’t deadly, the judge said.

“If Mr Weinstein dies because no one has taken the authority to stop what may be the death of Mr Weinstein because of this back-and-forth transfer from one institution to another, it would be a miscarriage of justice to say the least,” Weinstein’s lawyer Barry Kamins told Farber. “It would be a travesty of justice.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office had signaled for months that new charges were imminent against Weinstein, who was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, having produced films such as “Pulp Fiction” and “The Crying Game.”

In July, prosecutors told a judge they were actively pursuing claims of rape that occurred in Manhattan within the statute of limitations. They said some potential accusers who were not ready to come forward during Weinstein’s first New York trial had indicated they were now willing to testify.

In vacating Weinstein’s conviction, New York’s Court of Appeals ruled that the trial judge, James M Burke, unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations from other women that were not part of the case. Burke is no longer on the bench.

Prosecutors have said one of the accusers in that case, Jessica Mann, is prepared to testify against him again. It’s unclear if the second accuser, Mimi Haley, would participate. Her lawyer, Gloria Allred, declined to comment.

The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named, as Haley and Mann did.

Weinstein, who had been serving a 23-year sentence in New York when his conviction was quashed, was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape.

His 16-year prison sentence in that case still stands, but his lawyers appealed in June, arguing he did not get a fair trial in Los Angeles. Weinstein has remained in custody in New York’s Rikers Island jail complex while awaiting the retrial.

New York:

Prosecutors are preparing to retry Harvey Weinstein on rape charges after a previous conviction against the former Hollywood producer was overturned.

Weinstein, who is currently at New York’s Rikers Island prison, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital on Sunday to undergo emergency heart surgery after experiencing severe chest pains.

His lawyers are expected in court on Thursday. However, it is unclear whether he will present as his lawyers have said he has health problems.

The judge overseeing the case has set November 12 as a tentative trial date.

The 72-year-old is serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted on rape charges by a California court. He had also been found guilty of the rape and sexual assault of actor Jessica Mann and of forcibly performing oral sex on production assistant Miriam Haley by a New York court in February 2020.

But the New York Court of Appeals overturned the conviction in April, saying that Weinstein did not get a fair trial because a judge allowed testimony by accusers he was not formally charged with assaulting.

This was one of the defining cases of the Me Too movement. Weinstein has denied any non consensual sexual encounters with anyone.

At a July hearing, prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said they intend to bring new charges for “additional violent sexual assaults” of more women who have agreed to testify.

More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct. 

Last week, British prosecutors dropped indecent assault charges against the Miramax film studio co-founder after concluding there was no realistic chance of securing a conviction.

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein remains in custody in New York while awaiting retrial on rape and sexual assault charges in Manhattan.
| Photo Credit: AP

British prosecutors have decided not to pursue criminal charges of sexual assault against former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

The Crown Prosecution Service said on Thursday (September 5, 2024) that it decided to discontinue proceedings against Weinstein because there is “no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.’’

“We have explained our decision to all parties,’’ the CPS said in statement. ’’We would always encourage any potential victims of sexual assault to come forward and report to police and we will prosecute wherever our legal test is met.”

The CPS had previously authorized police to file the charges against Weinstein in relation to an alleged sexual assault that occurred in London in 1996.

Weinstein remains in custody in New York while awaiting retrial on rape and sexual assault charges in Manhattan, prosecutors said in August after the former movie mogul made a brief court appearance related to California’s request to extradite him there.

After the retrial, he is due to start serving a 16-year sentence in California for a separate rape conviction in Los Angeles, authorities said. Weinstein, who has denied that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone, was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 while already serving a 23-year sentence in New York.

His 2020 conviction in Manhattan was thrown out this spring by the state’s top court, which ruled that the judge in the original trial unfairly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations that weren’t part of the case.

London:

British prosecutors said on Thursday they had discontinued indecent assault charges against former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.

“Following a review of the evidence in this case, the CPS has decided to discontinue criminal proceedings against Harvey Weinstein,” said Frank Ferguson, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division

“The CPS has a duty to keep all cases under continuous review and we have decided that there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.”

When it authorised charges two years ago, the CPS said the alleged assault had taken place in August 1996 in London, with police saying the accusation involved a woman, now aged in her 50s.

Weinstein, 72, has denied having any non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone.

Jurors in Manhattan found him guilty on rape charges in February 2020, but the New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction in April, finding Weinstein did not get a fair trial because a judge improperly allowed testimony by accusers he was not formally charged with assaulting.

A court in Los Angeles in 2022 convicted him of raping an actress in the city.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

According to the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Harvey Weinstein will appear in a New York City court on May 1, 2024. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Disgraced Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was hospitalised on April 27 upon his return to New York after the city’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction on sex crime charges.

The 4-3 decision was a shock reversal of one of the defining cases of the #MeToo movement, but Weinstein will remain jailed on a separate 16-year rape sentence handed down in California.

Also Read | A look at past and future cases Harvey Weinstein has faced as his New York conviction is thrown out

“The NYC Department of Corrections determined that Weinstein needed immediate medical attention,” his lawyer Arthur L Aidala told AFP in a statement.

“A myriad of tests are being performed on Harvey and he is being kept for observation.”

Police told U.S. media that Weinstein had been taken to New York’s Bellevue Hospital.

On Thursday, the city’s Court of Appeals found the trial judge erred in admitting the testimony of additional women who were allegedly abused by Weinstein but who were not named in the charges brought against him, and ordered a new trial.

Bombshell allegations broke against the Oscar-winning producer in 2017, launching the #MeToo movement that paved the way for women to fight back against sexual violence in the workplace.

Weinstein, 72, was convicted in a New York court in 2020 of the rape and sexual assault of ex-actress Jessica Mann in 2013, and of forcibly performing oral sex on former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006.

He was later sentenced to 23 years in prison.

New York:

Thursday’s ruling overturning Harvey Weinstein’s New York rape conviction gives the one-time film mogul a chance at a new trial and calls into question what evidence prosecutors can use in future sex crime cases.

Here is a look at what happened to the case, which helped define the #MeToo movement, and what might happen next.

WHY WAS WEINSTEIN’S CONVICTION OVERTURNED?

Weinstein, 72, was found guilty of raping one woman and sexually assaulting another after both testified in court.

But a 4-3 majority of the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, found that the trial judge should not have permitted three other women to testify that Weinstein had assaulted them as well because their allegations were not part of the criminal charges against him.

Such testimony about “prior bad acts” is usually barred by New York’s so-called Molineux rule, named for a landmark 1901 court case. The majority of the court found that the testimony by the three women ran afoul of the rule and made the trial unfair.

WHY WERE THE OTHER WOMEN ALLOWED TO TESTIFY IN THE FIRST PLACE?

The Molineux rule is not absolute. It holds that prosecutors cannot use such testimony to prove that the defendant has a “propensity” to commit crime, but they may use it as evidence of motive or intent.

In Weinstein’s case, prosecutors persuaded the trial judge that the producer’s alleged prior sexual assaults showed that he knew his accusers did not consent to his advances, but that he intended to force them into sex anyway.

Prosecutors believed the evidence would help disprove Weinstein’s assertion that the encounters were consensual.

The Court of Appeals, however, found that the testimony was simply evidence that he had a propensity to commit rape and sexual assault, not of his motive or intent.

WHAT DOES THE RULING MEAN FOR WEINSTEIN’S CALIFORNIA CASE?

Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in prison following a separate 2022 rape conviction in California, which he is expected to appeal, and the New York ruling has no direct effect on that case.

In fact, California law specifically allows testimony about prior bad acts in sex crime cases as evidence that a defendant has a propensity to commit sex crimes. Such evidence was used in Weinstein’s California trial, and the state’s law will make it harder for his lawyers to challenge on appeal than in New York.

WHAT DOES THE RULING MEAN FOR FUTURE CASES IN NEW YORK?

According to the majority of the court, very little. Judge Jenny Rivera wrote in the majority opinion that the decision was based on well-established New York law, and said it was similar to another 1996 Court of Appeals decision, People v. Vargas, vacating a rape conviction because witnesses were allowed to testify about earlier alleged rapes by the defendant.

Dissenting judges in Thursday’s decision said the ruling would make it more difficult to prosecute sex crimes committed by people who know their victims and may have ongoing relationships with them, as in Weinstein’s case.

Judge Anthony Cannataro, who was among the dissenters, called it “an unfortunate step backwards from recent advances in our understanding of how sex crimes are perpetrated.”

Another dissenting judge, Madeline Singas, said the decision would effectively end the use of prior bad acts witnesses in such cases and make it difficult to prove intent.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)