Harvey Weinstein's retrial of sexual assault charges in New York begins. What's the difference this time?
Warning: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected.
Five years after Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and dragged to jail with handcuffs, the former film tycoon returned to Manhattan Courthouse on Tuesday to conduct a new trial covering many of the same charges — and allegations that have never been tried before.
Weinstein is regularly present in hospitals, pushing for earlier retry dates
Now 73 years old, he has been evacuated from one of the most powerful people in the film industry.
Film tycoons Miramax and Weinstein Company have been nominated for 81 Academy Awards since 1988, including six Best Picture Champions. Although his bullying is an open secret in the film industry, The New York Times and The New Yorker posted a pair of exposés in 2017, and in 2017, some female-level sexual assault allegations, in some cases rape.
A few days later, the articles, along with a tweet from actress Alyssa Milano, inspired the #MeToo movement and encouraged more women to openly accuse men of predatory behavior in various industries.
New York’s Supreme Court overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 sexual assault and rape conviction, a milestone ruling for the #MeToo movement. Andrew Chang explains how the prosecutors know that it is a gamble and where the gambling goes wrong.
Within days, Weinstein was fired by his company and his wife initiated a divorce process. A grand jury in New York sued him in the spring of 2018, which was his first step in a criminal trial.
For the retrial, Weinstein pleaded not guilty, denying that he had raped or sexually assaulted anyone. Some charges that prosecutors were acquitted during the first trial did not allow retry to Weinstein.
Why a new trial?
The state's appeals court revoked Weinstein's belief and 23 years in prison and ordered a new trial after it found that the original judicial ruling and testimony of bias tilted the original trial.
In a 4-3 ruling, the court said at the time judge James Burke denied that Weinstein had a fair trial, which led three women to testify that there was no part of the case.
The court marked the charges against Weinstein as “shocking, shameful, offensive behavior” but warned that “destroying the defendant’s character under the guise of a prosecutor” did not justify certain trial evidence and testimony.
What are the new allegations he faces?
Weinstein faces charges not heard in the first trial, the result of a criminal sexual offence allegedly committing oral sex on a woman at a Manhattan hotel in 2006.
Prosecutors said the woman stood up to them just days before Weinstein's first trial, but was not part of the case. They said that after Weinstein’s conviction, instead of prosecutions for women, they revisited them and obtained a new indictment after the first judgment was dropped.
Weinstein's lawyers argue that prosecutors should not wait for nearly five years for additional charges.
What allegations will be heard again?
Weinstein was withdrawn from two charges for his initial trial.
He faces a crime for allegedly performing oral sex on film and television production assistants.
Miriam Haley is a former production assistant for Weinstein production Project runwaytestified at the 2020 trial that he pushed her to a bed in a Manhattan apartment in June 2006 and forced her to do oral sex on her, but she was not avoided by her kicks and pleas.
Haley also left under the name Mimi Haleyi, who admitted she was in touch with Weinstein, exchanged enthusiastic messages with him and accepted an invitation to his hotel room two weeks after the alleged attack, where he pulled her into bed for sex. Under New York law that applied at the time, Weinstein has not been charged with Hayley's allegations.
Weinstein also charged with a third-degree rape charge for allegedly assaulting Jessica Mann in a room in a Manhattan hotel in 2013.
Mann said Mann, who had been engaged in acting career after great growth, testified at the 2020 trial that he trapped her in a hotel room and ordered her to take off her clothes as she vaguely hangs and rapes her. She accused Weinstein of rape again at a Beverly Hills hotel eight months later, where she worked as a hairdresser.
She said Mann also kept in touch with Weinstein after the alleged attack, testifying that she gave him a likable email because “his self is so vulnerable,” she said, which made me feel safe and worship him in that sense. ”
The Associated Press usually doesn’t identify the person who accused of sexual assault, as Hayley and Mann did unless they agree to be named.
Will Weinstein be free if he was acquitted in this trial?
no. Weinstein, who rejected California's extradition request last year, was found guilty of rape, forced verbal mating and another count of sexual misconduct after a two-month trial in Los Angeles in the second half of 2022.
He was sentenced to 16 years in prison earlier the following year, which will begin after serving his sentence.
Weinstein’s belief in California is under scrutiny, but legal experts said after overturning the New York verdict that the rules in the two states differ in previous behavior and behavior.
If you are directly at risk or concern about your own safety or the safety of others around you, call 911. For support in your area, you can find it through The In Crisis Lines and local services Ending the Violence Association of Canada Database.
