Harvey Weinstein has been pictured for the first time since his 2020 conviction was overturned by an appeals court last week.
The American disgraced filmmaker, 72, had his hands cuffed as he was pushed in a wheelchair out of a prison van and into a courthouse in Manhattan on Wednesday, May 1
Weinstein was jailed for 23 years for rape and sexual assault in the New York case.
But in a turn of events, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the movie producer did not receive a fair trial when he was convicted – effectively erasing his 23-year prison sentence and ordering a retrial.
Last week’s ruling concluded that a trial judge permitted jurors to see and hear too much evidence not directly related to the charges he faced.
Prosecutors said they intend to retry him on charges that he forcibly performed oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and raped an aspiring actor in 2013.
After his New York conviction was overturned he cried tears of joy and insisted he wasn’t a rapist, his spokesman has said.
Weinstein has been serving 23 years in a New York jail for the two sex attacks against aspiring actress Jessica Mann and production assistant Mimi Haleyi.
He was handed a further 16 years after a jury in LA found him guilty of three rape and sexual assault charges in 2022.
Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg told the court that they were asking for Weinstein to be remanded in custody.
They called it a ‘Strong case in 2020 when the defendant was tried and convicted’ and it ‘remains a strong case in 2024.’
The court heard that the appeal ruling was ‘non equivocal on the issue of consent’ and there was ‘nothing consensual about the conduct complainants described’.
Prosecutors told the court: ‘We believe in this case and will be trying this case.’
‘Jessica Mann is here in court. She’s here to show she’s not backing down and is committed to seeing justice is served again.
‘The defendant may have power and privilege but she has the truth. We have every belief the defendant will be convicted again after trial.’
Prosecutors said that they wanted the trial to happen in the fall, possibly September.
Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala told the court: ‘We’re not asking for bail. Mr Weinstein has very very serious medical issues’.
He praised the Department of Corrections for taking care of Weinstein’s needs.
He said: ‘He’s sharp as a tack. He’s as smart as he ever was. He’s read hundreds and hundreds of books. I have no issue whatsoever about his mental abilities.’
Aidala dismissed the idea it was a ‘strong case’ and said that Weinstein was cleared of the most serious charges including first-degree rape.
Aidala claimed that Mimi Haleyi, whose claims led to Weinstein being found guilty of criminal sexual act, may have perjured herself during the trial.
According to Aidala, Weinstein recently told him: ‘Let’s go to trial and prove my innocence.’
