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Harvey Weinstein’s retrial on rape charges is scheduled to begin on April 14.
A 12-person jury in Manhattan convicted Weinstein in June of first-degree criminal sexual act against Haley, and acquitted him of another charge against former model Kaja Sokola. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the third count of rape involving aspiring actress Jessica Mann. This charge ended in a mistrial as the jury foreman refused to return for deliberations, saying he had faced threats from other jurors.
Prosecutors have pledged to retry the rape charge, and Mann has expressed support for a retrial. Weinstein appeared to be considering pleading guilty to the charge in recent weeks, but did not come forward. Jury selection for the retrial is scheduled to begin on April 14, with Weinstein’s new legal team taking the lead.
Weinstein swapped lawyers last week, bringing on Jacob Kaplan, who represents Luigi Mangione in his state murder case, as well as Mark Agnifilo and Tiny Geragos, both of whom recently defended Sean “Diddy” Combs in his sex trafficking and racketeering trial. Kaplan appeared in court on Wednesday with Agnifilio and Geragos.
His former lawyer, Arthur Aidala, will remain in his position to work on the appeal of Weinstein’s conviction in the June trial. Aidala said “serious errors” in the latest conviction would be considered. He previously asked the judge to dismiss him on the grounds of juror intimidation, but was denied.
The charge is third-degree rape, which is a class E felony in New York and carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison. Weinstein was convicted of this charge in 2020, but that conviction was overturned in April 2024.
Aidala has previously expressed frustration that the rape charge will go to trial for a third time, rather than reaching some sort of resolution with the prosecution. He pointed to Weinstein’s 73-year-old age and health problems, as well as the 16-year prison sentence he still faces in California.
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