September 17th 2024.
One of the key witnesses in the original trial of disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has announced that she will testify again in his upcoming retrial on criminal charges. Mimi Haley, a former production assistant on The Weinstein Company's "Project Runway," had initially expressed uncertainty about going through the trial process again after Weinstein's conviction was overturned earlier this year.
"It's a lot to handle emotionally, having to relive the trauma and go over the details again and again," Haley said, explaining her hesitation.
But on Tuesday, Haley's attorney Gloria Allred stated that her client had decided to testify once more, believing it to be the right thing to do. Allred emphasized the importance of Haley's testimony in the case.
In the 2020 trial, Weinstein was not convicted on the top count of predatory sexual assault, but he was found guilty of first-degree criminal sexual act against Haley and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Haley had accused Weinstein of pinning her down and forcing her into a sexual act in 2006 at his apartment in Manhattan. The total sentence of 23 years also included a conviction for rape in the third degree of Jessica Mann in a New York hotel room in 2013.
Mann, who had previously testified in the original trial, has also agreed to testify again in the retrial. The New York Court of Appeals had overturned Weinstein's convictions in April, citing violations of his constitutional rights due to the testimony of uncharged prior bad act witnesses and the broad cross-examination allowed if Weinstein were to take the stand.
The retrial on sex crime charges is currently scheduled to begin on November 12, but this may change depending on Weinstein's health situation. Last week, he was indicted in Manhattan on new sexual assault allegations, according to prosecutors.
Weinstein, who is 72 years old, was not present at the hearing on Thursday due to an emergency medical procedure on his heart and lungs earlier in the week. His attorney, Arthur Aidala, stated that Weinstein had been in the intensive care unit at Bellevue Hospital until last Wednesday. A hearing on his health is scheduled for Wednesday, and if he is cleared to attend, Weinstein is expected to be arraigned on the new indictment.
While he awaits his retrial, Weinstein remains in prison, appealing a separate conviction in Los Angeles in 2022 where he was found guilty of three sexual assault charges and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
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