Harvey Weinstein is slated to make his first court appearance in Manhattan since New York's highest court overturned his conviction on sex crimes. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has stated its intention to retry Weinstein if the victims agree to participate in a new trial.
Weinstein, aged 72, was moved to Rikers Island and then to the New York City jail medical unit at Bellevue Hospital Center last week in anticipation of his court appearance.
"We are cautiously optimistic and ready to go to trial, if necessary," said his spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, in a statement on Saturday. "There are now fewer charges, and the deck isn't going to be stacked against him illegally."
The initial trial and conviction stemmed from a 2017 New York Times article that revealed Weinstein had reached settlements with at least eight women who accused him of sexual misconduct over several decades. This revelation sparked a series of accusations and the emergence of the #MeToo movement.
Weinstein was arrested in 2018 and charged with first- and third-degree rape, as well as first-degree criminal sex act. While he was found guilty in 2020 of criminal sexual assault and third-degree rape, he was acquitted of the most serious charges.
The New York Court of Appeals overturned Weinstein's conviction, criticizing the trial judge for admitting testimony of prior sexual acts that "served no material non-propensity purpose" and "portrayed defendant in a highly prejudicial light."