Ahead of Harvey Weinstein’s rape retrial this fall, Manhattan prosecutors say they may issue a new indictment against the disgraced movie prosecutor because more accusers may come forward to testify.
“Some people who were not ready to speak out in 2020 now appear ready to do so in 2024,” Manhattan Assistant D.A. Nicole Blumberg said in a Wednesday hearing, adding that the state is assessing whether these “survivor” claims fall under the statute of limitations.
The admission came at the second hearing for Weinstein’s new trial after the state’s highest court overturned his 2020 rape conviction. Last month, the New York Court of Appeals ordered a new trial after ruling in a 4-3 decision that Weinstein’s first trial judge “erroneously” allowed testimony from women whose allegations against him were not a part of the charges in the case.
In the hearing at the same courthouse as Donald Trump’s ongoing hush money trial, a blue-suit clad Weinstein sat in a wheelchair at the defense table as Blumberg asked Judge Curtis Farber to order the defense team to abstain from making comments about witnesses in the case. She said that the comments could discourage previous and new accusers from testifying in the retrial.
Weinstein’s lawyer, however, told Farber that he felt it was his duty to speak up for his client but agreed to reel in his comments going forward. Farber asked both the prosecution and the defense to “refrain from pandering to [the] press,” because the case will “not be decided in the court of public opinion.”
“I will make sure that I don’t get so close to that line again,” defense attorney Arthur Aidala said.
Weinstein, 72, is currently being held in a New York prison ahead of his trial, which is expected to start after Labor Day. He still faces 16 years in a California state prison after his 2022 conviction of similar charges.
