Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
On September 19, 2024, 8:05 PM
Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to committing a criminal sexual act in a New York court.
The 72-year-old is facing a new charge over the alleged sexual assault of a woman in a Manhattan hotel in 2006, according to District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg.
âNot guilty,â Weinstein said emphatically when asked for his plea on Wednesday.
Appearing in court in a wheelchair, Weinstein wore a dark suit and a blue tie, and with a large bandage on his right hand.h
âThanks to this survivor who bravely came forward, Harvey Weinstein now stands indicted for an additional alleged violent sexual assault,â Mr Bragg said in a statement.
Separately, Weinstein is awaiting retrial after New Yorkâs top appeals court threw out his rape conviction and 23-year-sentence in April.
The conviction was dismissed on the basis he did not get a fair trial because the judge allowed testimony from women who he was not charged with assaulting.
Weinstein has denied having non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone.
He remains in custody serving a 16-year sentence over the 2013 rape of an actress in LA.
In July he was moved to a New York prison hospital with multiple health problems including Covid and double pneumonia.
Last week he underwent emergency heart surgery, according to his lawyers.
Prosecutors have filed a motion to consolidate the new charge and the pending retrial in the 2020 overturned rape conviction.
A judge is set to rule on that on 2 October.