After the spectacular overturning of the rape conviction against former film mogul Harvey Weinstein, the public prosecutor’s office wants to reopen the trial. Representatives of the public prosecutor’s office announced this on Wednesday at a hearing in a court in New York, at which the 72-year-old Weinstein himself was also present, as several US media outlets consistently reported.
“We believe in this case and we will reopen this case,” said Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg. The defense also agreed to a new trial. Both sides signaled they could be ready for a new trial in the fall if that fits into the court calendar. Judge Curtis Farber initially scheduled a new hearing for May 29th. Whether there will actually be a new trial could also depend, for example, on whether witnesses would want to testify again.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for sexual offenses in 2020. Last Thursday, an appeals court in New York surprisingly overturned the historic conviction. By a narrow majority, the panel found that procedural errors had been made in the process at the time. Weinstein is still in prison because he was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2023 in another criminal trial in Los Angeles, which also involved sex crimes.
