Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to two new charges of predatory sexual assault
- Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty on Monday to an indictment that adds two new charges of predatory sexual assault to his upcoming New York trial
- Prosecutors say the indictment will open the door for The Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra to testify against him in his sexual assault case
- Sciorra says Weinstein raped her inside her Manhattan apartment after she starred in a film for his movie studio in 1993
- Prosecutors can’t charge Weinstein with the alleged attack on Sciorra but the indictment will allow them to call her as a witness
- Weinstein has previously pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of raping a woman in 2013 and performing a forcible sex act on a different woman in 2006
Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to an indictment that adds two new charges of predatory sexual assault to his upcoming New York trial.
The movie mogul entered the plea on Monday in a Manhattan courtroom.
Prosecutors had said the new indictment was needed to lay the legal foundation for Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra to testify against Weinstein in his upcoming sexual assault trial.
Weinstein has previously pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of raping a woman in 2013 and performing a forcible sex act on a different woman in 2006.
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty on Monday to an indictment that adds two new charges of predatory sexual assault to his upcoming New York trial
The movie mogul entered the not guilty plea on Monday in a Manhattan courtroom
Sciorra has claimed that Weinstein raped her inside her Manhattan apartment after she starred in a film for his movie studio in 1993.
Weinstein, who is free on $1 million bail, has denied all accusations of non-consensual sex.
Prosecutors can’t charge Weinstein with the alleged attack on Sciorra because the accusation dates to 13 years before New York eliminated its statute of limitations for rape cases in 2006.
But in court papers filed this month, they told the judge the indictment will give them a legal foundation to call the actress as a witness to strengthen the predatory sexual assault charge against Weinstein.
The indictment was not immediately available.
Weinstein has previously pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of raping a woman in 2013 and performing a forcible sex act on a different woman in 2006
Prosecutors had said the new indictment was needed to lay the legal foundation for Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra (above) to testify against Weinstein in his upcoming sexual assault trial
Court papers filed by the defense called the attempt to make Sciorra a prosecution witness an ’11th-hour maneuver’ that ‘raises significant legal issues’ that could delay the trial by several weeks.
His sexual assault trial will now be pushed back to January.
Separately, defense attorneys are asking appeals court to move the trial case out of New York City because a ‘circus-like atmosphere’ there fueled by news reports and social media posts.
A decision on the request could come as early as Monday.