NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Harvey Weinstein is due back in court in New York on Wednesday for a hearing ahead of his retrial on sex crimes charges stemming from his landmark #MeToo case.
Among other things, Judge Curtis Farber is expected to address a request from prosecutors to with into a single trial.
The former movie mogul was already facing retrial on two sex crime charges after the state鈥檚 highest court earlier this year. Then in September, he was hit with a new charge accusing him of another assault. He has pleaded not guilty.
Weinstein was convicted on charges 鈥 since overturned 鈥 that he forcibly performed oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006, and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actor in 2013. In the new charge, prosecutors say he forced oral sex on a different woman in a Manhattan hotel in the spring of 2006.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg鈥檚 office has argued in court filings that holding separate trials would be 鈥渆xtraordinarily inefficient鈥 and waste judicial resources. Prosecutors said the cases have significant overlap as they involve similar criminal statutes, witnesses, expert testimony and documentary evidence.
Weinstein鈥檚 lawyers have argued in court filings that the cases should remain separate. They said prosecutors are attempting to 鈥渆xpand the scope鈥 of the court-ordered retrial and transform it into 鈥渁n entirely new proceeding鈥 by including the new charges.
There鈥檚 also the question of when Weinstein鈥檚 retrial is expected to actually begin.
Faber had tentatively scheduled Weinstein鈥檚 trial to open on Nov. 12, but both defense lawyers and prosecutors have voiced concerns that the date won鈥檛 give their side enough time to prepare.
Weinstein has been in custody at the city鈥檚 Rikers Island jail complex and has faced while behind bars.
He was also of rape in 2022, though his lawyers have .
The sexual assault and harassment allegations against Weinstein turbocharged the #MeToo movement in 2017.
The 72-year-old former producer co-founded the film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company. He produced such films as 鈥淪hakespeare in Love鈥 and 鈥淭he Crying Game.鈥
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