A New York City judge has tentatively scheduled the start of former Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s retrial on rape and sexual assault charges for November 12.
Judge Curtis Farber said on Friday that he was open to an earlier start date in September, depending on how pretrial discovery progresses. Weinstein’s lawyers said they want to proceed as soon as possible.
Last week, prosecutors said they anticipated a November retrial and told Farber that they were still actively pursuing new claims against Weinstein.
The new accusers have not been publicly identified, and prosecutors are seeking to shield certain evidence from public view while they prepare to seek a new grand jury.
Arthur Aidala, Weinstein’s lawyer, said at last week’s hearing that it was unfair for prosecutors to seek to add more victims to the case after the conviction was overturned.
Weinstein, 72, has denied wrongdoing and having any nonconsensual sexual encounters with anyone.
Jurors in Manhattan found him guilty on rape charges in February 2020, but the New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction in April, finding Weinstein did not get a fair trial because a judge improperly allowed testimony by accusers he was not formally charged with assaulting.
But his conviction was a milestone for the #MeToo movement, in which women accused hundreds of men in entertainment, the media, politics and other fields of sexual misconduct.
He was convicted of rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actress and forcing himself on a TV and film production assistant in 2006. Weinstein denied any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors said one of the accusers in that case, Jessica Mann, is prepared to testify again.
Last week, Floria Allred, a lawyer for the second accuser, Mimi Haley, said her client had yet to decide whether to participate in the retrial.
Weinstein was also sentenced to 16 years following a separate rape trial in California. The New York court’s decision did not affect that conviction, and he has not begun serving the California sentence.
He is being held on New York City’s Rikers Island before his retrial.
