WARNING: This article may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
Five years after Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and hauled to jail in handcuffs, the former movie mogul returns to a Manhattan courthouse Tuesday for a new trial covering many of the very same allegations — plus one that hasn’t been tried before.
Weinstein pushed for an earlier retrial date, as he has been in and out of the hospital regularly for a variety of health problems
Now 73, he is far removed from the time when he was among the most powerful men in the movie business.
The movie mogul’s Miramax and then Weinstein Company earned 81 Academy Award nominations beginning in 1988, including six best picture winners. While his bullying behaviour was an open secret in the film industry, a pair of exposés published days apart by the New York Times and the New Yorker in 2017 saw several women level allegations of sexual assault and, in some instances, rape.
The articles, as well as a tweet from the actress Alyssa Milano days later, galvanized a #MeToo movement and encouraged more women to go public with allegations of predatory behaviour by men across industries.
New York’s highest court has overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for sexual assault and rape, a landmark ruling of the #MeToo movement. Andrew Chang explains how the prosecution knew it was taking a gamble, and where that gamble went wrong.
Within days, Weinstein was fired from his company and his wife initiated divorce proceedings. A grand jury in New York indicted him in spring 2018, the first step toward his criminal trial.
For the retrial, Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denies that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone. Prosecutors are not allowed to retry Weinstein on certain counts that he was acquitted of during his first trial.
Why is there a new trial?
The state’s Court of Appeals threw out Weinstein’s convictions and 23-year prison sentence and ordered a new trial after finding that the original one was tilted by “egregious” judicial rulings and prejudicial testimony.
In a 4-3 decision, the court said then-Judge James Burke had denied Weinstein a fully fair trial by letting three women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
The court labelled the allegations against Weinstein “appalling, shameful, repulsive conduct” but warned that “destroying a defendant’s character under the guise of prosecutorial need” did not justify some trial evidence and testimony.
What is the new charge he faces?
Weinstein faces allegations not heard in the first trial, the result of one count of criminal sex act for allegedly forcing oral sex on a woman at a Manhattan hotel in 2006.
Prosecutors said that the woman came forward to them just days before the start of Weinstein’s first trial but was not part of that case. They said they did not pursue the women’s allegations after Weinstein’s conviction, but revisited them and secured a new indictment after the first verdict was thrown out.
Weinstein’s lawyers contend that prosecutors shouldn’t have waited nearly five years to bring the additional charge.
Which allegations will be heard again?
Weinstein is being retried on two charges from his original trial.
He faces one count of criminal sex act for allegedly forcibly performing oral sex on a movie and TV production assistant.
Miriam Haley, a former production assistant on the Weinstein-produced Project Runway, testified at the 2020 trial that he pushed her onto a bed at his Manhattan apartment in June 2006 and forced oral sex on her, undeterred by her kicks and pleas.
Haley, who has also gone by the name Mimi Haleyi, acknowledged that she kept in touch with Weinstein, exchanged warm messages with him, and accepted an invitation to his hotel room two weeks after the alleged assault, where he pulled her into bed for sex. Under New York law applicable at the time, Weinstein has not been charged with rape in connection with Haley’s allegations.
Weinstein also faces one count of third-degree rape for allegedly assaulting an Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.
Mann, who said she saw Weinstein as a “pseudo father” figure as she pursued an acting career after a rough upbringing, testified at the 2020 trial that he trapped her in the hotel room, ordered her to undress as he loomed over her and then raped her. She alleges that Weinstein raped her again eight months later at a Beverly Hills hotel, where she worked as a hairdresser.
Mann also kept in touch with Weinstein after the alleged assault, testifying that she sent him flattering emails, because “his ego was so fragile,” she said, and it “made me feel safe, worshipping him in this sense.”
The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named, as Haley and Mann have done.
If Weinstein is acquitted at this trial, would he go free?
No. Weinstein last year rejected an extradition request from California, where he was found guilty of rape, forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count involving a woman known as Jane Doe 1, after a two-month trial held in Los Angeles in late 2022.
He was sentenced early the following year to 16 years in prison, which was to begin after the New York punishment was served.
Weinstein’s conviction in California is subject to review, but legal experts said in the wake of the overturning of the New York verdict, that the two states had rules that differed regarding testimony about prior acts and behaviour.
If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database.
