Harvey Weinstein Set for April 14 Retrial on Rape Charge

Harvey Weinstein’s retrial on a rape charge is scheduled to begin April 14. 

A 12-person jury in Manhattan found Weinstein guilty in June of one count of a criminal sexual act in the first degree against Haley and acquitted him on another count against former model Kaja Sokola. The jury could not reach a verdict on the third count of rape, related to aspiring actress Jessica Mann. That charge ended in a mistrial as the jury foreperson refused to return to deliberate, saying he faced threats from other jurors. 

Prosecutors vowed to retry the rape charge, and Mann also voiced her support for a retrial. Weinstein appeared to be mulling a guilty plea on the charge in recent weeks, but has not moved forward with a plea. Jury selection in the retrial is set to begin April 14, with Weinstein’s new legal team helming the trial.

Weinstein swapped attorneys last week, bringing in Jacob Kaplan, who represents Luigi Mangione in his state murder case, as well as Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos, both of whom recently defended Sean “Diddy” Combs in his sex trafficking and racketeering trial. Kaplan appeared in court Wednesday, with Agniflio and Geragos. 

Arthur Aidala, his previous attorney, will stay on to work on an appeal of Weinstein’s guilty verdict in the June trial. Aidala said “serious errors” in the recent conviction will be looked at. He has previously asked the judge to dismiss on the grounds of juror intimidation, but was denied. 

The charge is rape in the third degree, which is a Class E felony in New York and carries a maximum prison sentence of four years. Weinstein was convicted on the charge in 2020, but that conviction was overturned in April 2024. 

Aidala has previously expressed frustration that the rape charge was going to a trial for a third time, rather than coming to some kind of resolution with the prosecution. He pointed to Weinstein’s age, 73, and his health problems, as well as the 16-year sentence he still faces in California.