Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge in New York

MANHATTAN (CN) — Harvey Weinstein was arraigned Wednesday on a new indictment charging the disgraced Hollywood film producer with an additional sex crime in New York.

Manhattan prosecutors charged Weinstein with one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree. Weinstein, who attended Wednesday’s hearing wearing a dark suit, a light blue tie and bound to a wheelchair, pleaded not guilty.

“The defendant, in the County of New York, during the period from on or about April 29, 2006 to on or about May 6, 2006, engaged in oral sexual conduct with a person who is known to the grand jury, to wit, contact between defendant’s mouth and the vulva and vagina of a person who is known to the grand jury, by forcible compulsion,” the one-page indictment says of Weinstein.

Weinstein’s attorney Arthur Aidala told reporters outside the courthouse that his client was “somewhat relieved” to hear of the charge, but he still does not know who the supposed victim is in the new indictment.

“He is somewhat relieved because, as you all know, there were reports that there were going to be three indictments handed down today,” Aidala said. “In fact, there was one indictment that was unsealed. We’re making the assumption that that’s the only indictment that’s going to be unsealed.”

Last week, Aidala told reporters that he expected prosecutors to charge Weinstein for three separate “incidents,” likely of sexual misconduct, taking place between 2005 and 2016.

For the time being, Weinstein’s latest accuser will remain under wraps, according to her attorney Lindsay Goldbrum.

“Our firm represents Jane Doe, whose grand jury testimony formed the basis of the new indictment against Harvey Weinstein," Goldbrum said in a statement Wednesday. “Mr. Weinstein is charged with one count of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree. Ms. Doe has not shared this story publicly before, nor does she want to be identified at this time. She will be fully prepared to speak her truth at trial to hold Mr. Weinstein accountable before a jury of his peers. We would like to thank the media in advance for respecting Ms. Doe’s privacy while she prepares for her testimony.”

The new indictment comes ahead of Weinstein’s highly anticipated retrial for sex crimes he was convicted of previously. In 2020, a Manhattan jury’s split verdict found Weinstein guilty of committing a criminal sexual act and third-degree rape, but acquitted him on the more serious first degree rape offense and two counts of predatory sexual assault.

The New York Court of Appeals overturned that conviction this year, finding the trial judge had allowed prejudicial testimony from three women whose accusations of sexual assault by Weinstein were not part of the state’s case-in chief.

Prosecutors hope to roll the new charge into the retrial of the old case “because a trial on these offenses will involve such significant overlap” with evidence, according to Assistant District Attorney Shannon Lucey.

“Separate trials will be extraordinarily inefficient and burdensome,” Lucey said in court Wednesday.

Weinstein’s team wants separate trials so they can have more time to prepare for the new indictment.

“We’re vehemently opposed to consolidation,” Aidala said to reporters. “This is a new case that was handed down today from 2006. We have a lot of work to do, we have to find out who the person is … [but] we’re basically ready to go to trial on the old case.”

New York Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber previously set a tentative trial date for November. But prosecutors on Wednesday said they won’t be ready to bring the case to a jury until January 2025.

Prosecutors announced last week that a Manhattan grand jury returned the new indictment against Weinstein, but the charge was sealed since they were unable to arraign him at the time — Weinstein couldn’t make it to court after an emergency heart surgery left him bound to a bed in Bellevue Hospital.

His health remains a roadblock. Weinstein’s legal team wants him to be kept at Bellevue until trial so doctors can more closely monitor his health, rather than return him to his prison cell at Rikers Island.

Farber is yet to rule on the request.

Weinstein remains behind bars. Despite his tossed New York conviction, Weinstein is serving a 16-year sentenced imposed by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge for raping an Italian model in 2013.

More than 80 women in total have come forward with accusations of Weinstein’s sexual misconduct. Weinstein denies all accusations, holding that his encounters were consensual.

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