Harvey Weinstein's retrial moved to next year, lawyer plans to hire a private investigator

NEW YORK -- NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein ’s retrial connected activity crimes charges successful Manhattan won’t commencement until astatine slightest adjacent twelvemonth — and his lawyers scheme to prosecute a backstage interrogator to look into a caller allegation against nan movie mogul that will now beryllium portion of nan case.

The caller specifications came arsenic Weinstein appeared successful tribunal Wednesday for a pretrial hearing.

Weinstein was already facing retrial connected 2 activity crimes charges aft nan state’s highest tribunal overturned his 2020 conviction earlier this year. In September, he was deed pinch a caller complaint accusing him of different assault. He has pleaded not guilty.

On Wednesday, Judge Curtis Farber granted a prosecution petition to consolidate some cases and agreed to push backmost nan trial's commencement date, which had been tentatively scheduled for Nov. 12.

Weinstein’s lawyers sought a day successful March aliases April. Prosecutors said they were not opposed, but were prepared to spell to proceedings arsenic soon arsenic January. Farber group nan adjacent pre-trial proceeding for Jan. 29.

“We’re going to request immoderate clip to analyse nan case, prosecute a backstage interrogator and excavation much into discovery,” said Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala.

Weinstein, seated successful a wheelchair, held a transcript of erstwhile President Barack Obama’s memoir “A Promised Land” arsenic he listened intently to nan proceedings.

Weinstein was convicted connected charges that he forcibly performed oral activity connected a TV and movie accumulation adjunct successful 2006, and rape successful nan 3rd grade for an onslaught connected an aspiring character successful 2013. In nan caller charge, prosecutors opportunity he forced oral activity connected a different female successful a Manhattan edifice successful nan outpouring of 2006.

After nan hearing, Aidala said he was “somewhat disappointed” but not amazed by nan judge’s determination to consolidate nan cases.

“It’s correct retired of their playbook from nan past time,” he said, referring to prosecutors. “They’re going to put his characteristic and his demeanor connected proceedings arsenic opposed to nan facts of nan lawsuit connected trial.”

Weinstein’s lawyers had based on successful tribunal papers that nan cases should stay separate, accusing prosecutors of attempting to toggle shape nan retrial into “an wholly caller proceeding.”

But Farber sided pinch Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, which had contended that holding a abstracted proceedings connected nan caller complaint would beryllium “extraordinarily inefficient” and discarded judicial resources.

In a written decision, Farber said lawyers for Weinstein had “failed to found that his correct to a adjacent proceedings free of undue prejudice would beryllium violated” if nan 2 cases were merged.

Aidala said nan caller accuser hasn’t yet been officially identified to defense lawyers.

“It’s overmuch of nan aforesaid wherever for years, decades, it’s been consensual, and past arsenic of late, it’s not consensual,” he said.

A lawyer for nan accuser, who she said wants to beryllium identified arsenic “Jane Doe” for now, said her customer maintains her brushwood pinch Weinstein was not consensual.

“While Ms. Doe has antecedently chosen not to publically stock this achy information of her experience, she has ever remained accordant successful her conversations pinch nan Manhattan DA’s office,” lawyer Lindsay Goldbrum said successful a statement. “Ms. Doe wants her privateness to beryllium respected while she prepares for her testimony.”

Aidala besides pushed backmost connected suggestions that Weinstein’s lawsuit echoes nan national sex trafficking case against rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs, which includes allegations he coerced and abused women for years and silenced them done blackmail, threats and violence.

“There’s nary allegations of force, for illustration beingness force. There’s nary allegations of drugs and filming and babe oil and each that stuff,” he said. “This is each astir group who knew each other, who went connected dates, who fooled around. Everything was good for years and years and years and now it’s not good anymore.”

Weinstein’s first proceedings included grounds from women who described being forcibly groped, physically cornered and shoved into objects by Weinstein, and kicking and punching him arsenic they tried to wrestle retired of his grip.

He was acquitted astatine that proceedings of predatory intersexual battle charges related to accusations by character Annabella Sciorra, who had described a convulsive onslaught successful her flat successful nan 1990s. Prosecutors are barred from retrying him connected those allegations.

Aidala wouldn't elaborate connected reports that Weinstein is dealing pinch a caller wellness rumor while down bars.

“I’m not going to get into immoderate specifics isolated from to opportunity that Mr. Weinstein is simply a combatant and he’s present to conflict this lawsuit and he’s going to conflict pinch each ounce of spot successful his assemblage immoderate wellness issues that he has,” he said.

The 72-year-old erstwhile movie shaper has faced numerous wellness complications, including emergency bosom surgery to region fluid connected his bosom and lungs past month.

Weinstein’s lawyers person based on — truthful acold unsuccessfully — that he should beryllium housed astatine Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital alternatively than nan city’s notorious Rikers Island jailhouse complex.

Sexual battle and harassment allegations against Weinstein turbocharged nan #MeToo activity successful 2017.

The co-founder of nan movie and tv accumulation companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company was besides convicted of rape in Los Angeles successful 2022, though his lawyers person appealed.

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Follow Philip Marcelo astatine twitter.com/philmarcelo.