Former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein returned to the courtroom on Wednesday for the first time since his emergency heart surgery to be arraigned on a new sexual assault charge.
Weinstein, 72, was convicted in the 2020 sexual assault of former production assistant Miriam Haley and the rape of aspiring actress Jessica Mann. He received a 23-year prison sentence.
The conviction was overturned in April of this year by the New York Court of Appeals. The court ruled that three women who were not included in the charges should not have been allowed to speak about alleged assault during their trial testimony. Weinstein’s retrial is scheduled to begin on November 12.
He pleaded not guilty to the new charge, criminal sex act in the first degree, before Justice Curtis Farber in a New York City courtroom. Weinstein appeared in the courtroom in a wheelchair for the proceeding.
Harvey Weinstein appears for a pretrial hearing in Manhattan criminal court, Friday, July 19, 2024, in New York. Weinstein pleaded not guilty to a new sexual assault charge on Wednesday.
Adam Gray/Pool Photo via AP
The indictment on new charges was first announced in court last week by prosecutors. Weinstein was not present at the proceeding.
He was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in New York City on September 8 and underwent emergency heart surgery the next day.
Harvey Weinstein arrives to the court on February 21, 2020 in New York City. Weinstein underwent emergency heart surgery earlier this month.
Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images
Haley’s attorney, Gloria Allred, confirmed to Newsweek that Harley plans to testify again in the retrial.
“In that first criminal trial, defendant Weinstein was convicted of first degree criminal sexual conduct of Mimi and Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 20 years for that crime against Mimi. That conviction was vacated on appeal, because of the court’s decision on #MeToo witnesses. Mimi has decided that that she will testify again, because she believes that it is the right thing to do, and that it is important that she testifies,” Allred said.
Weinstein is being held in Rikers Island prison in New York. He has not returned to the facility yet as he recovers from the procedure.
He has denied having non-consensual encounters with anyone.
Former film producer Harvey Weinstein listens in court during a pre-trial hearing for Weinstein, who was extradited from New York to Los Angeles to face sex-related charges at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on July 29, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. Weinstein was convicted of the charges, but his legal team plans to appeal.
Photo by Etienne Laurent-Pool/Getty Images
He was also found guilty of rape in Los Angeles and sentenced to 16 years in prison, but his legal team is appealing the conviction. He has not started serving the California sentence yet.
Weinstein was co-chair of film studio The Weinstein Company before the sexual assault allegations surfaced.
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