New York prosecutors in the Harvey Weinstein retrial are investigating additional allegations of sexual assault

New York prosecutors who plan to retry Harvey Weinstein after his 2020 rape conviction was recently overturned said Tuesday they are investigating additional allegations of sexual assault and could present new charges to a grand jury by the fall.

At a hearing in Manhattan, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Blumberg said her office could be ready for a new trial in November, contradicting Weinstein’s defense attorney, Arthur Aidala, who said his client is in fragile health and “is begging us to move forward” with an earlier trial date.

“He’s a sick man and he wants out,” Aidala said of Weinstein, 72, “and the district attorney’s office is filing motions about orders of protection and this is delay, delay, delay.”

The once-powerful Hollywood producer was wheeled into court in a wheelchair and appeared thin and pale, holding a copy of the nonfiction book “20th Century-Fox: Darryl F. Zanuck and the Creation of the Modern Film Studio.”

Aidala accused prosecutors of trying to get new charges against Weinstein simply because he is a defendant and that it was “unfair” to find additional victims when his case was dismissed.

“Again, we have a hotline: 1-800-GET-HARVEY,” Aidala said.

Blumberg told Judge Curtis Farber that prosecutors knew of other women alleging rape but were unwilling to attend the trial four years ago.

“As we said in 2020, there were women who were not prepared to pursue the legal process,” Blumberg said. “Some of these women are now ready to move forward.”

Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for forcibly performing oral sex on a former TV and film production assistant in 2006 and for third-degree rape for attacking another woman, an aspiring actress, in 2013.

His conviction symbolized a watershed moment under the #MeToo movement over how powerful men could be held accountable for sexual assaults in Hollywood and other industries.

But in April, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the trial judge erred by allowing additional witnesses to testify at Weinstein’s 2020 trial even though their allegations were not part of the actual charges against him. Prosecutors asked that their testimony could show a broader pattern of Weinstein’s alleged behavior.

But he remains behind bars at New York’s Rikers Island prison complex because of his conviction in a separate 2022 Los Angeles rape case. His legal team filed an appeal last month in that case, in which he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. prison.

Weinstein maintained that any sexual encounters were consensual.

Blumberg said Tuesday that the additional charges against Weinstein that his office is considering are within the state’s statute of limitations. While it is unclear what the exact charges would be, the 2019 legislation extended the statute of limitations for second-degree rape from five to 20 years and for third-degree rape from five to 10 years.

The judge in the Weinsteins’ case scheduled another hearing for July 19 to discuss sharing evidence with the defense.

Outside court, Aidala told reporters that time is of the essence as Weinstein’s health worsens and he battles diabetes and a back problem that makes walking difficult. He said he was optimistic about his client’s chances of getting a new trial.

“We don’t think there’s anything there,” Aidala said.