Harvey Weinstein is “ready” to face a jury for the third time on a rape accusation following the shocking split verdict at his Manhattan retrial, his attorney said Wednesday.
The disgraced Hollywood mogul’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said Weinstein was eager to clear his name as Manhattan prosecutors announced they were ready to retry him on a third-degree rape charge related to aspiring actress Jessica Mann.
“We’re ready to go, judge,” Aidala told the judge during Weinstein’s first appearance in Manhattan Supreme Court since the split verdict at his retrial in June.
Jurors convicted the former Miramax honcho on June 11 of sexually assaulting former “Project Runway” assistant Miriam Haley in 2006, but acquitted him on a criminal sexual charge against Polish model Kaja Sokola.
A mistrial was declared on the third count as sparring jurors could not reach a verdict on the charge relating to Mann, 39, who accused Weinstein, 73, of raping her inside a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.
Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg told the court Wednesday that prosecutors were “ready to proceed” in retrying Weinstein on that rap, with hopes of setting a January trial date.
But Justice Curtis Farber balked at their request, saying that the proposed date was “not acceptable” after he was previously told that the case would be retried in the fall.
The judge said another trial would have to take place before the end of the year — adding that Weinstein would not be sentenced on the other count until the unresolved matters were handled.
Farber ordered all parties back to court on Sept. 30 and said that he would set a new trial date or sentence Weinstein, who appeared in a wheelchair, if the outstanding matters were taken care of.
Weinstein’s attorney said outside the courthouse that his client was eager to get things moving and not interested in a plea deal.
“He doesn’t want the word rape associated with him,” Aidala said.
Weinstein was convicted in 2020 for sexually assaulting and rape at the height of the #MeToo movement. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison before an appeals court overturned the Manhattan convicted in 2024.
He was separated convicted in December 2020 of similar sex crimes in Los Angeles, where he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in June that his office would try the case again after Mann agreed to take the stand a third time.
“I will never give up on myself and making sure my voice – and the truth – is heard. I have told the District Attorney I am ready, willing and able to endure this as many times as it takes for justice and accountability to be served,” Mann said in a statement at the time.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
