Retrial of Harvey Weinstein unlikely to occur soon, if ever, experts say

PTI, Apr 28, 2024, 9:33 AM IST

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A retrial in New York of disgraced former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein won’t be coming to a courtroom anytime soon, if ever, legal experts said on a day when one of two women considered crucial to his rape trial said she wasn’t sure she would testify again.

A ruling Thursday by the New York Court of Appeals voided the 2020 conviction of the onetime Hollywood power broker who prosecutors say forced young actors to submit to his prurient desires by dangling his ability to make or break their careers.

On Saturday, Weinstein was in custody in a Manhattan hospital where he was undergoing multiple tests, attorney Arthur Aidala said. He was returned Friday to New York City jails from a state prison 160 kilometers northwest of Albany. He remains behind bars because he was also convicted in a similar case in California.

The appeals court in a 4-3 decision vacated a 23-year jail sentence and ordered a retrial of Weinstein, saying the trial judge erred by letting three women testify about allegations that were not part of the charges and by permitting questions about Weinstein’s history of ”bad behaviour” if he testified.

He did not. He was convicted of forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant and of third-degree rape for an attack on an aspiring actor in 2013.

Several lawyers said Friday that it would be a long road to reach a new trial for the 72-year-old ailing movie mogul and magnet for the #MeToo movement who remains behind bars, and it was doubtful that one could start before next year, if at all.

”I think there won’t be a trial in the end,” said Joshua Naftalis, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor now in private practice. ”I don’t think he wants to go through another trial, and I don’t think the state wants to try him again.” Naftalis said both sides may seek a resolution such as a plea that will eliminate the need to put his accusers through the trauma of a second trial.

Aidala said Saturday he plans to tell a judge at a Manhattan court appearance Wednesday that he believes a trial could occur anytime after Labour Day.

With the scaled-down case ordered by the appeals court, Aidala predicted that it could be finished in a week and his client would be exonerated.

Deborah Tuerkheimer, a professor at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and former assistant district attorney in Manhattan, said whether there is a second trial will ”hinge on the preferences of the women who would have to testify again and endure the ordeal of a retrial.” ”I think ultimately this will come down to whether they feel it’s something they want to do, are able to do,” she said.

Jane Manning, director of the nonprofit Women’s Equal Justice, which provides advocacy services to sexual assault survivors, agreed “the biggest question is whether the two women are willing to testify again.” If they are, then Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “will absolutely retry the case,” said Manning.

Tama Kudman, a criminal defense lawyer said prosecutors will likely soon have conversations with key witnesses for a retrial.

“It’s really up to them at the end of the day whether they want to go through that again,” Kudman said, noting that prosecutors will have to see if witnesses can withstand a second trial.

The legal process is already in motion, with Weinstein’s Wednesday appearance likely to focus in part on where he will be incarcerated while he awaits a new trial.

Bragg’s office put out a statement soon after the appeals ruling was made public Thursday, saying it will “do everything in our power to retry this case.” But lawyers say the road to a trial will include monthslong battles between lawyers over what evidence and testimony will be allowed at a retrial.

The daunting path to a new trial was clear Friday when Miriam Haley, one of two women at the heart of the charges against Weinstein, said during an electronic news conference that she “will consider testifying again, should there be another trial,” but declined to commit to a new trial when questioned further about it.

Haley, a former “Project Runway” production assistant also known as Mimi Haleyi, testified at Weinstein’s trial that she repeatedly told Weinstein “no” when he attacked her inside his apartment in July 2006, forcibly performing oral sex on her. In a 2020 civil lawsuit, Haley said she was left with horror, humiliation and pain that persists.

During the news conference with her lawyer, Gloria Allred, Haley said the appeals ruling was “a terrible decision that sends an extremely disheartening message to victims of sexual assaults everywhere.” She said testifying was “retraumatizing, exhausting and terrifying” and she could not yet decide if she would testify at a retrial while “we’re all in a bit of shock” from the court ruling.

“It’s like insane. It’s grueling. It’s hard. You’re living in fear for years,” Haley said. ”Then you’re getting harassed. There’s so much stuff that people don’t see that I had to live with. Yeah, like I have to take a minute to think about it.” Allred told the news conference Friday afternoon that Bragg’s office had not yet reached out to Haley about testifying again.

Aidala agreed that it’s really Haley’s decision whether a trial occurs.

Erika Rosenbaum, a Canadian actor who made her own accusations against Weinstein in 2017, has spent years speaking out against harassment and abuse but has not been called to testify in either Weinstein trial.

She said in an interview Friday that it was harrowing enough to tell her own story of abuse in the media and can only imagine how much more difficult it is to go on the witness stand — let alone twice.

She said she imagines it would be terrifying to testify and she wishes she could “take the stand for them or with them.” “But these are some brave ladies, and I have a great deal of respect for them and gratitude,” Rosenbaum added.