New York prosecutors have accused Harvey Weinstein’s lead protection legal professional of creating public statements meant to intimidate a possible witness earlier than the film mogul’s retrial. legislation and requested the choose to behave.
The Manhattan District Legal professional’s Workplace despatched a letter to the trial choose Thursday criticizing legal professional Arthur Aidala’s feedback outdoors court docket on Might 1, urging the choose to remind the protection crew “to not be” to not make public statements talking or disparaging doable witnesses sooner or later. .”
Final month, New York’s highest court docket overturned Mr. Weinstein’s rape conviction in 2020, ruling that the choose within the case had allowed different ladies to testify about allegations that weren’t are a part of the case.
On this historic trial of the #MeToo motion, Mr. Weinstein was convicted of raping an actress in 2013 and sexually assaulting a tv and movie manufacturing assistant, Miriam Haley, in 2006. Harvey Weinstein, 72, denies the allegations.
Talking to reporters on the topic after Mr Weinstein’s first look for the reason that court docket handed down its verdict, Aidala stated he believed Ms Haley had lied to the jury in regards to the allegations. – her causes for talking out, which prosecutors deny. He stated his crew deliberate to aggressively evaluation the query, “if (Miriam Haley) desires to point out herself right here.”
The latter, who was not current on the court docket listening to, had stated just a few days earlier than that she was questioning if she ought to testify a second time in a brand new trial.
I Aidala declined to remark final Friday.
Assistant Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg, within the letter to Decide Curtis Farber, stated the protection legal professional violated state guidelines {of professional} conduct and “knowingly uncared for his skilled and moral obligations.”
“The obvious intent of his statements was to intimidate Ms. Haley and deter her from cooperating within the enchantment of this case,” Blumberg wrote.
The deputy prosecutor requested Decide Farber to remind protection attorneys of their moral obligations concerning out-of-court statements and to organize them to cease making public statements about witnesses as a result of ‘ these feedback “may have a fabric adversarial impact on the case.
Mr. Weinstein’s subsequent look is Wednesday. On the Might 1 listening to, prosecutors requested a brand new trial as early as September. Decide Farber stated the trial will likely be held someday after Labor Day.
Harvey Weinstein, who was serving a 23-year jail sentence for the Manhattan conviction, was transferred from a state jail to a metropolis jail following a ruling final month by the state Court docket of Appeals. He was additionally convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of one other rape and remains to be sentenced to 16 years in jail in California.
Miriam Haley stated final month at a press convention together with her legal professional, Gloria Allred, that she didn’t wish to undergo the trauma of testifying once more, “however to go forward and to do the suitable factor and since it’s what occurred, I’m. would touch upon it’.
Mr. Allred declined to remark Friday.
The Related Press sometimes doesn’t establish individuals accused of sexual assault until they comply with be named, as Ms. Haley did.
2024-05-24 22:34:16
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