More sex crime charges to be arraigned against Harvey Weinstein in New York

Harvey Weinstein is set to appear in a Manhattan court for arraignment on Wednesday, facing up to three new sex offense charges, according to his lawyer. The former movie mogul had been excused from a previous hearing due to emergency heart surgery. The Manhattan District Attorney recently revealed that a grand jury has issued a new indictment against Weinstein, which will only be unsealed at the arraignment.

The new indictment reportedly includes allegations of assaults at the Tribeca Grand Hotel in the mid-2000s, at a Lower Manhattan residential building, and at a Tribeca hotel in May 2016. Weinstein is also preparing for a retrial in his significant #MeToo case following the overturning of his 2020 conviction by New York’s highest court earlier this year.

Weinstein’s retrial is scheduled to commence on November 12, with prosecutors considering merging the new charges into the ongoing case, a move that Weinstein’s legal team opposes, insisting on a separate trial. His lawyer expressed uncertainty regarding the specifics of the new accusations as the details of the sealed indictment are not yet known.

The 72-year-old Weinstein, who has consistently claimed that any sexual encounters were consensual, has been recuperating at a Manhattan hospital since undergoing emergency surgery to drain fluid around his heart and lungs. A judge has granted him permission to remain in the hospital’s prison ward rather than being transferred back to the infirmary at Rikers Island jail complex.

The conviction against Weinstein was overturned earlier this year due to the allowance of testimonies from other women by the trial judge, which were unrelated to the case against him. Weinstein, once a powerful figure in Hollywood, co-founded Miramax and The Weinstein Company, producing acclaimed films like “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Crying Game.”