New York (AFP) – A lawyer for disgraced Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein called Wednesday for him to be given a “fresh eye” when he is retried for rape and sexual assault. Weinstein, 72, looked frail as he appeared in a Manhattan courtroom for a hearing ahead of a retrial on legal grounds that follows the overturn of his 2020 convictions. The judge has set the date of his retrial for April 15 and previously declined to move proceedings.
A lawyer for the former movie mogul, who is in poor health and underwent emergency heart surgery last year, said, “you have to be looking at this with a fresh eye.” The judge in the case, Curtis Farber, said “everything is being done anew.” Weinstein, who did not speak at the hearing, is serving a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted on separate rape charges in California. His New York conviction in 2020 was for the rape and sexual assault of an actress and for forcibly performing oral sex on a production assistant. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison in that case. But the New York Court of Appeals overturned the conviction.
Allegations against Weinstein helped launch the #MeToo movement in 2017, a watershed moment for women fighting sexual misconduct. More than 80 women accused him of harassment, sexual assault, or rape, including prominent actors Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Ashley Judd. Weinstein claimed any sexual relations in question were consensual.
Another lawyer for Weinstein, Arthur Aidala, said Wednesday, “what happened was consensual and therefore there is no victim.” Weinstein and his brother Bob co-founded Miramax Films. Their hits included 1994’s “Pulp Fiction” and 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love,” for which Weinstein shared a best picture Oscar.
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