John Jefferson
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to a new sex crime charge in his first court appearance since undergoing emergency heart surgery.
The 72-year-old former Hollywood mogul was rushed from Rikers Island to Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital on September 8. He underwent heart surgery after his doctors discovered “a massive amount of fluid in his lungs.” In his first public appearance since the surgery, Weinstein pleaded not guilty to one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday afternoon.
This new charge comes five months after New York’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction for raping and sexually assaulting two women.
The court ruled that the original judge made “egregious errors” in the trial by allowing prosecutors to call witnesses whose allegations were not related to the charges at hand. However, Weinstein res convicted of rape and sexual assault in California.
His retrial is tentatively set for November.
More than 80 women accused Weinstein of abuse ranging from groping to rape in 2017. These revelations launched the #MeToo movement as women from around the world came forward to talk about surviving sexual harassment and assault.
More to come…
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