Prosecutors in New York City can combine two sexual crimes cases against Harvey Weinstein, a judge ruled Wednesday, delivering a legal victory to the Manhattan district attorney’s office ahead of the disgraced Hollywood mogul's retrial.
State Judge Curtis Farber's decision came two days after NBC News reported that Weinstein had been diagnosed with an uncommon form of bone marrow cancer, chronic myeloid leukemia, according to two sources.
Weinstein, wearing a navy suit and clutching two books on his lap, entered the courtroom in a wheelchair.
Weinstein’s lawyers opposed prosecutors’ efforts to consolidate the new and the old charges into a single trial. In a court filing this month, Weinstein’s attorneys accused the district attorney’s office of acting improperly and unfairly.
In response, prosecutors argued that “lengthy, burdensome, duplicative trials that would waste party and judicial resources, further clog the court system, and burden multiple juries—benefits that [the] defendant’s opposition does not even contest.”
In early 2020, a New York jury convicted Weinstein of third-degree rape against Jessica Mann, a former aspiring actor, and first-degree criminal sex act against Mimi Haley, a former “Project Runway” production assistant. (He was acquitted of two counts of predatory sexual assault and a count of first-degree rape.)
But in April, the state Court of Appeals overturned his conviction in a 4-3 decision, rebuking the trial judge for allowing women to testify about allegations that were not part of the charges. The court said the move was “highly prejudicial.”
Then, last month, Weinstein was indicted on one count of sexual act in the first degree. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the charge stemmed from allegations of sexual assault of an unnamed woman in a New York City hotel room in 2006.
Weinstein pleaded not guilty in both cases. He was not released from prison after the appeals court’s decision because he had been convicted in 2022 of rape in Los Angeles and sentenced to 16 years in prison. His legal team is appealing that conviction.
More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual assault or harassment — allegations that helped power the #MeToo movement, a reckoning with sexual misconduct by powerful men across the entertainment industry and other fields.
Weinstein has repeatedly denied the claims, insisting the sexual encounters in question were consensual.
He has faced various health issues in recent months. He underwent emergency heart surgery in September. He was hospitalized and tested positive for Covid and double pneumonia in July.
