Harvey Weinstein indicted on new sexual assault allegations in New York
By Lauren del Valle and Jean Casarez, CNN
(CNN) — A Manhattan grand jury has indicted Harvey Weinstein in connection to new sexual assault allegations, according to prosecutors.
The indictment detailing the allegations, however, will likely remain sealed until Weinstein is arraigned. It could include sexual assault allegations from three women, prosecutors said at a separate hearing last week.
The disgraced movie mogul was not present at the Thursday hearing because he was not medically cleared to attend after an emergency procedure on his heart and lungs earlier this week. Weinstein was being treated in the intensive care unit at Bellevue Hospital until Wednesday, his attorney, Arthur Aidala, said.
Prosecutors began presenting a case to the grand jury in mid-August. They did not identify the three accusers by name, but described their allegations at the hearing last week.
One alleged assault occurred at a residential building in lower Manhattan in the winter months between 2005 and 2006, prosecutors said. Another accuser is said to have been sexually assaulted in a hotel in Tribeca in May 2016.
A third women has alleged Weinstein sexually assaulted her at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, according to the hearing transcript. A source with knowledge of the matter told CNN that alleged assault is said to have occurred during in 2006.
Prosecutors have said the new indictment is not tied to Jessica Mann and Mimi Haley, whose allegations are tied to the charges Weinstein is set to be retried on November 12.
The DA’s office wants to combine the two cases. Prosecutors could be ready to try Weinstein on the new indictment in November “with all of our survivors,” Blumberg said in court.
Aidala vehemently opposed the idea, calling it laughable to suggest it was ethical for Weinstein’s defense counsel to defend him on the new indictment two months from now.
“We are ready to defend whatever comes our way. It’s just a little odd for us to be so in the dark at this point that we really don’t know what is coming our way with any degree of specificity,” Aidala told reporters after the hearing.
Judge Curtis Farber will have to decide whether to combine the cases into one trial and said at the hearing that it’s too soon to say whether the November 12 date will stand.
A hearing is set for next Wednesday to discuss Weinstein’s health situation.
Prosecutors pushed back on Weinstein’s request to remain in a hospital outside of Rikers Island. Judge Farber overruled the objection, determining he can stay in a prison ward in the hospital or a non-prison ward if determined medically necessary.
If he is cleared to attend the hearing next week, Weinstein is expected to be arraigned on the new indictment at that proceeding.
Weinstein, 72, was convicted in 2020 of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison, but his conviction was overturned on appeal in April.
Weinstein remains in prison while he appeals a separate 2022 conviction in Los Angeles, when he was found guilty on three sexual assault charges andsentenced to 16 years in prison.
This story has been updated.
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