Harvey Weinstein charged with new sexual assault allegations in New York

CNN
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According to prosecutors, a grand jury in Manhattan has indicted Harvey Weinstein in connection with new allegations of sexual assault.

But the indictment containing the allegations will likely remain sealed until Weinstein goes to trial. It may also include allegations of sexual harassment against three women, prosecutors said at a separate hearing last week.

The disgraced movie mogul was absent from Thursday’s hearing because he was medically ineligible to attend following emergency heart and lung surgery earlier this week. Weinstein was being treated in the intensive care unit at Bellevue Hospital until Wednesday, his attorney Arthur Aidala said.

Prosecutors began presenting their case to the grand jury in mid-August. They did not name the three accusers but outlined their allegations at last week’s hearing.

One alleged assault occurred in a residential building in Lower Manhattan during the winter months between 2005 and 2006, prosecutors said. Another accuser allegedly was sexually assaulted in a Tribeca hotel in May 2016.

A third woman alleged that Weinstein sexually harassed her at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, according to the hearing transcript. A source familiar with the matter told CNN the alleged assault took place in 2006.

Prosecutors have said the new charges have no connection to Jessica Mann and Mimi Haley, whose allegations are related to the charges Weinstein is scheduled to face again on November 12.

The prosecution wants to combine the two cases. Prosecutors may be prepared to put Weinstein on trial in November on the new charges “with all of our survivors,” Blumberg said in court.

Aidala vehemently rejected this idea and called it ridiculous to claim that it would be unethical for Weinstein’s defense attorney to defend him in the new indictment in two months.

“We are prepared to defend whatever comes our way. It’s just a little strange that we are so in the dark at this point that we don’t really know what’s coming our way,” Aidala told reporters after the hearing.

Judge Curtis Farber must decide whether to consolidate the cases into one trial and said at the hearing that it was too early to say whether the Nov. 12 date would remain in place.

A hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday to discuss Weinstein’s health condition.

Prosecutors denied Weinstein’s request to be placed in a hospital outside of Rikers Island. Judge Farber overruled the objection and ruled that Weinstein could be placed in a jail section of the hospital or, if medically necessary, in another section.

If he is admitted to the hearing next week, Weinstein is expected to be charged under the new charges in that proceeding.

Weinstein, 72, was convicted of first-degree sexual assault and third-degree rape in 2020. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison, but his conviction was overturned on appeal in April.

Weinstein remains in prison while he appeals another 2022 ruling in Los Angeles, when he was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

This story has been updated.