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Harvey Weinstein has switched to a new lawyer as an upcoming retrial in the rape cases he faces in New York approaches. The jailed former Hollywood mogul has abandoned his powerful team for his next moment in court while his longtime lawyers appeal another ruling.
Jacob Kaplan of Agnifilo Intrater was exploited by a disgraced convicted rapist, Hollywood Reporter And he confirmed. A court appearance scheduled to iron out details of the upcoming trial has been postponed from Wednesday to next week. Prosecutors and defense attorneys are working to resolve the remaining third-degree rape charge that ended in a mistrial, but may go to trial.
Weinstein has been in prison for four years, initially serving a 23-year prison sentence that was overturned in New York after his 2020 trial in New York ended with his conviction. The 73-year-old former Hollywood kingmaker was convicted in New York of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape. But the rulings were overturned in April 2024 when the New York Court of Appeals, in a 4-3 decision, ruled that the 2020 trial judge had allowed testimony from women whose allegations were not part of the formal charges.
Weinstein’s retrial in March will come after an initial 2025 retrial, in which a partial jury verdict was unable to determine whether he had raped actress Jessica Munn. At a retrial, he was found guilty of forcing Miriam Haley, a former ex, to perform oral sex on him Runway project Assistant, in 2006. He was acquitted of forcing former model Kaja Sokola to perform oral sex during a retrial. The trial on a third-degree rape charge comes after the former mogul failed to respond to a plea deal offer that would have allowed him to serve time on the sexual assault and rape charges concurrently and could include time served.
The court recently denied Weinstein’s request for a new trial based on allegations of jury duress in a 2025 retrial.
Kaplan, who represents accused killer Luigi Mangione in his statewide murder case, will be joined by his colleagues Mark Agnifilo, who also represents Mangione, and Tiny Geragos, who recently defended Sean “Diddy” Combs in his sex trafficking and racketeering trial.
Weinstein’s former team of lawyers at Aidala Bertuna & Kamins, which handled the first two times this case went to trial, will continue to work on the appeal of the latest ruling. Lawyer Arthur Aidala said “serious errors” would be considered in the latest conviction; He is confident that it will be turned around.
“As Harvey Weinstein’s attorney in two separate cases, we fought hard to protect his rights and ensure he received a fair trial,” Aidala said in a statement. THR. “Our work does not end here. We will continue to defend him vigorously in the appellate courts, where we are confident that the serious legal errors will be remedied and his most important conviction will ultimately be overturned, as we have done in the past.”
“In addition, we continue to represent Mr. Weinstein in all pending civil matters and fully support his new counsel in every way necessary to ensure a coordinated and comprehensive legal strategy,” he added.
In addition to the New York convictions, Weinstein was convicted in a separate trial on the West Coast in 2022 of rape and sexual assault of one of four women he was accused of assaulting in Los Angeles. Although his conviction in New York was overturned, he remains in prison at Rikers Island in New York based on his conviction in Los Angeles.
