Harvey Weinstein due in court as judge weighs scope of his #MeToo retrial and when it will start
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Before Bannon's trial date was set last week, Aidala had suggested that Weinstein's trial go first in 'the interest of humanity,' citing the ex-studio boss' declining health.
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Weinstein is being treated for numerous medical conditions, including chronic myeloid leukemia and diabetes.
'They know that Mr. Weinstein is dying of cancer and is an innocent man right now in the state of New York,' Aidala argued in court last week. He pleaded to prosecutors: 'Can I try this dying man's case first?'
Weinstein is being retried on charges that he forcibly performed oral sex on a movie and TV production assistant in 2006 and raped an aspiring actor in 2013. The additional charge, filed last September, alleges he forced oral sex on a different woman at a Manhattan hotel in 2006.
The Manhattan district attorney's office said in court papers that the woman, who has not been identified publicly, came forward to prosecutors just days before the start of Weinstein's first trial but was not part of that case.
Prosecutors said they did not pursue the women's allegations after Weinstein was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison, but they revisited them and secured a new indictment after the state's Court of Appeals threw out his conviction last April.
Farber ruled in October to combine the new indictment and existing charges into one trial.
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Weinstein's lawyers contend that prosecutors prejudiced him by waiting nearly five years to bring the additional charge, suggesting they had elected not to include the allegation in his first trial so they could use it later if his conviction were reversed.
Prosecutors called that thinking 'absurd,' countering that Weinstein's lawyers would have also been outraged if he had been charged based on the third woman's allegation either during his first trial or immediately after his conviction.
Weinstein 'would likely have characterized that timing as a vindictive and gratuitous pile-on,' prosecutors wrote in a court filing last month.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said the previously uncharged allegation 'required a sensitive investigation' and serious contemplation before seeking an indictment, in part because there are no eyewitnesses to the alleged assault and no scientific or other physical evidence.
Weinstein co-founded the film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company and was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, having produced films such as 'Pulp Fiction' and 'The Crying Game.'
In 2017, he became the most prominent villain of the #MeToo movement, which erupted when women began going public with accounts of his behavior.
He has long maintained that any sexual activity was consensual.
In vacating Weinstein's conviction, the Court of Appeals ruled that the trial judge, James M. Burke, unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations from other women that were not part of the case. Burke is no longer on the bench.
Weinstein was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape. His 16-year prison sentence in that case still stands, but his lawyers appealed in June, arguing he did not get a fair trial.
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Weinstein has remained in custody in New York's Rikers Island jail complex, with occasional trips to a hospital for medical treatment, while awaiting the retrial.
The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named.
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'Michael was a talented man with an AMAZING on screen presence! My deepest condolences & prayers to his family. #GoneToSoon #RestInParadise.' Pal Stephen Baldwin said to The Post, 'Heartbroken to hear about the passing of Michael Madsen — a true original, fearless and unforgettable.' 11 Michael Madsen and his wife DeAnna Madsen. Getty Images The actor went on: 'Honored to have known and worked with him. My prayers are with his wife DeAnna and the entire Madsen family. Rest easy, brother.' The stars collaborated in the 2014 action thriller '2047: Sights of Death' and the 2016 horror movie 'Magi.' Madsen appeared on Baldwin's 'One Bad Movie' podcast in December to deep dive into his four-decades-long career. 11 Michael Madsen attends the Hand and Footprint Ceremony TCL Chinese Theatre on November 16, 2020. Getty Images The pair had a lot to discuss, as Madsen has appeared in more than 325 projects. 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