Harvey Weinstein will appear in a New York City court next week, the first step in a possible new attempt by the movie mogul after his 2020 rape conviction was overturned.
New York’s highest court on Thursday threw out Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, ordering a new trial. The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it intends to hold a new trial, but gave no indication of the schedule for Wednesday’s hearing.
“We will do everything in our power to retry this case and remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement Friday.
Meanwhile, a woman Weinstein sent to prison for sexual assault said Friday she is considering whether to testify in any new trial.
Mimi Haley said she is still processing Thursday’s ruling from the state Court of Appeals and is considering several factors, including the trauma of having to prepare for another trial and reliving what happened to her again.
“It was traumatizing, tiring, exhausting and everything in between,” she said during a press conference with her lawyer, Gloria Allred. “I definitely don’t want to go through this again. But to continue and do the right thing and because that’s what happened, I would consider it.”
Weinstein was convicted in New York in February 2020 of forcing Haley, a TV and film production assistant, into oral sex in 2006 and raping an aspiring actress in 2013.
The Associated Press generally does not identify people who allege sexual assault unless they consent to be identified and Haley has agreed to be identified.
Weinstein, 72, will remain in prison because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in that case.
Thursday’s decision by the Court of Appeals in New York essentially restarts Weinstein’s case, with next week’s hearing being the first step in the process of a possible new trial. Prosecutors will work on the same indictment, although excluding the charges he was acquitted of four years ago.
Among other things, authorities will have to find out where Weinstein is being held pending a new trial in New York. He could be sent to the notorious Riker’s Island prison complex, or to California to begin serving time for his conviction there.
Allred said New York’s decision shows how important it was to bring charges in California as well, even when critics called such charges superfluous.
Weinstein’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, did not immediately respond to an email seeking a response to Haley’s comments. But on Thursday he called the state Court of Appeals decision “a tremendous victory for all criminal defendants in New York State.”
The court overturned Weinstein’s 23-year sentence in a 4-3 decision, saying “the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged prior alleged sexual acts” and allowed questions about Weinstein’s “misbehavior” if he had testified. He called it “highly prejudicial” and “an abuse of judicial discretion.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday that her office is looking at the scale of the decision and how the state can ensure all women feel safe coming forward.
“I don’t want this to be a moment of stifling the environment that was created where we finally reported people who were abusing women in their presence,” Hochul said. I feel like right now you need to be silenced, and that’s something we have to protect.”
Allred said he welcomed the governor’s comments and would likely suggest possible legislation. She said she was concerned the decision would result in fewer cases being brought, especially against high-profile defendants.
“So not only will there be no access to justice for the ‘Me Too’ witnesses, previous witnesses to bad acts, but also for the actual victim of the crime… where she could have been prosecuted, she would have been prosecuted differently,” she he said.
Haley said she spoke with other alleged Weinstein victims about the decision, but the subject of testifying again was not broached.
“What would make me want to do this again would be, as I’ve said in the past, this isn’t just about me,” she said. “It is a very important case. It’s in the public eye. It’s very difficult for me personally, but it’s important for the collective.”
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Associated Press writer Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this story from Albany, New York.
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