Harvey Weinstein appeared in Manhattan court Wednesday, as his attorneys and prosecutors laid out a preview of what may happen at his April trial.
Judge Curtis J. Farber ruled on several motions ahead of the trial, saying that neither side can use evidence or arguments related to the reversal of Weinstein’s 2020 conviction nor the jury’s decision to acquit Weinstein on certain charges at that time. Weinstein’s health condition will not be allowed to be brought up in court, unless he testifies on the stand.
Prosecutors said they expected testimony to take about a month, with a planned 25 witnesses.
Both parties made heated arguments in favor of allowing testimony of their respective expert witnesses, with the prosecutors being granted the ability to call their expert witness to testify on the psychological experience of rape and sexual assault, including why victims would wait to report an assault and potentially maintain a relationship with the assailant, as well as the issue of power imbalances. Attorneys for Weinstein want to include testimony from another expert on issues with memory as it relates to alleged sexual assault and will continue to submit further written arguments on the matter.
At one point, when arguing against the expert witness for the prosecution, Jennifer Bonjean, a recently added attorney for Weinstein who has previously represented R. Kelly, argued that thanks to the #MeToo movement “we have progressed as a society,” and certain myths about power imbalances and why victims stay silent no longer need to be explained to a jury. The #MeToo movement was sparked by prior sexual assault allegations against Weinstein.
One issue of concern for Weinstein’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, was on upcoming jury selection and how to make sure jurors were not already aware of what had happened or biased against Weinstein.
“People are going to know about this case,” Aidala said.
Weinstein’s appearance in court came after he had pleaded with the judge in January to move up the April trial date due to his poor health. He was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair, as he has been for every hearing in this case, and appeared pale, but alert, as he greeted his attorneys and spokesperson in the front row of the courtroom.
On Wednesday, Faber said he may be able to move up the April 15 jury selection by a few days, if the trial immediately preceding it ends early.
The former mogul faces a retrial on charges related to his 2020 rape conviction in New York, which was overturned in April.
He was arraigned in September on a new count of a criminal sexual act in the first degree, after an indictment was returned by a grand jury. He pleaded not guilty to the charge, which carries a sentence of up to 25 years in prison. In total, Weinstein has been charged under two indictments for three sex crimes.
Weinstein’s 2020 conviction was overturned on the grounds that the judge in the New York County trial prejudiced Weinstein with improper rulings, including allowing witnesses to testify about allegations that were not part of the case, as an exception to the Molineux rule, which generally prohibits using evidence of a defendant’s prior bad behavior prove their propensity to commit the charges in question.
Ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, prosecutors had argued for Molineux evidence to potentially be used at Weinstein’s upcoming trial, but said their evidence would only pertain to the complaining witnesses in the case, namely as it related to prior and subsequent sexual assaults that were not part of the indictments, as well as “evidence regarding defendant’s threatening and retaliatory behavior toward other individuals known to the victims here.”
The two parties met in closed chambers for about one hour and 30 minutes on this matter, as well as whether any prior, unrelated sexual activity or sexual assaults from the victims could be discussed in court. Upon returning to the bench, Farber said that “those issues have been resolved” but would not be made public until a protective order is lifted.
Source: Hollywoodreporter
