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By Jenna Sundel and Joe Edwards
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Wheelchair-bound Harvey Weinstein learned that more accusers could choose to testify in his upcoming rape retrial during a hearing Wednesday in Manhattan.
The 72-year-old former movie mogul is awaiting the retrial after his 2020 rape conviction was overturned in April. He was convicted of sexually assaulting production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and of the third-degree rape of aspiring actor Jessica Mann in 2013.
He has maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
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Nicole Blumberg, Manhattan's Assistant District Attorney, said during Wednesday's pre-trial hearing that "some people who were not ready to speak out in 2020" may choose to testify at the new trial.
She said several women have "disclosed being sexually assaulted by the defendant" since the first trial. Prosecutors are trying to determine which incidents fall under the statute of limitations.
Blumberg said prosecutors may file a new indictment when asked by Judge Curtis Farber.
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Weinstein's conviction was thrown out by the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, in a 4-3 decision which found the trial judge had improperly allowed testimony against him which pertained to allegations unrelated to the case.
The court said at the time: "The trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts," which were "an abuse of judicial discretion."
Weinstein's 2020 trial took place in January in New York. The court heard testimonies from multiple women which detailed years of abuse.
In February 2020 he was found guilty of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and third-degree rape and faced up to 25 years in prison. In March that year he was sentenced to 23 years in prison. Weinstein's lawyers appealed for leniency on account of his age and health, but the judge was not moved.
In 2023, Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in prison for the 2013 rape of an actress in Los Angeles. That sentence was to run consecutively with his prior 23-year sentence.
Since 2015, Weinstein has faced numerous allegations of sexual misconduct accusations from actresses Rose McGowan, Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie.
The high-profile accusations led to the #MeToo movement gaining global prominence in 2017, following a tweet by actress Alyssa Milano encouraging women to use the hashtag to share their experiences of sexual harassment and assault.
Weinstein appeared in court earlier in May, sitting in a wheelchair in what was his first public appearance since the overturning of his rape conviction. Weinstein was also recently admitted to hospital; he suffers with diabetes and cardiac issues.
The court Weinstein made an appearance in on Wednesday had been hosting former President Donald Trump's hush-money trial.
Trump's case saw a string of high-profile witnesses, including adult-film star Stormy Daniels and former fixer for Trump Michael Cohen give testimony relating to payments made to Daniels to keep an alleged affair with the former president under wraps, because it would harm his 2016 election chances.
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This story and headline were updated at 5:30 p.m. ET with the details of Wednesday's hearing.
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