NEW YORK: Harvey Weinstein is due back in court Wednesday as a judge is set to decide when the disgraced movie mogul’s #MeToo retrial will start and whether it will include an allegation involving a woman who wasn’t in the original case.
Weinstein, 72, wants the extra charge thrown out, arguing through lawyers that Manhattan prosecutors only brought it to bolster their case with a third accuser after New York’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges involving two women.
Judge Curtis Farber is expected to rule on that and other matters, including the trial date — a task that’s been complicated by an increasingly crowded court calendar.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, is representing conservative strategist Steve Bannon in a border wall fraud trial that’s set to start March 4 before a different Manhattan judge. Meanwhile, Farber has a murder trial in March.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Harvey Weinstein due in court as judge weighs scope of his #MeToo retrial and when it will start
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Harvey Weinstein due in court as judge weighs scope of his #MeToo retrial and when it will start
- Judge Curtis Farber is expected to decide Wednesday when the disgraced movie mogul’s #MeToo retrial will start
- He will also decide whether it will include an allegation involving a woman who wasn’t in the original case
Man arrested in Japan after suspected car attack on children: reports
- The driver was a 28-year-old man who lives in Tokyo
The children, who had been on their way home from school, were injured and rushed to hospital but all seven remained conscious, according to public broadcaster NHK and other outlets.
Police could not immediately confirm the reports to AFP.
The driver was a 28-year-old man who lives in Tokyo and Osaka police have held him on suspicion of attempted murder, the reports said, citing unidentified investigative sources.
NHK said the man admitted the charges to police and stated that he was "fed up with everything, so he rammed the car into them thinking to kill someone".
The car was "zigzagging" as it hit the children, with one girl "covered in blood and other kids suffering what appeared to be scratches", a witness told broadcaster Nippon TV.
The man was "wearing a surgical mask and looked like he was in shock" after he was dragged out by schoolteachers, Nippon TV quoted a witness as saying.
Top South Korea court overturns not-guilty verdict of election frontrunner
- The latest Gallup poll shows the 60-year-old Lee in a considerable lead with 38 percent of support while all his rivals are locked in single digits
- The election was called in the wake of Yoon’s impeachment over the martial law attempt
SEOUL: South Korea’s Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a ruling that found a presidential frontrunner not guilty of violating election law, potentially scuppering Lee Jae-myung’s chances of running in the vote.
The June 3 election will decide who replaces impeached ex-president Yoon Suk Yeol, who was removed from office over his ill-fated declaration of martial law.
Former opposition leader Lee was cleared by a lower court in March of making false statements during a previous campaign, removing a major legal hurdle to his latest bid.
But the Supreme Court has now ordered a retrial that could see Lee, who is leading in the polls, barred from the election.
The top court ruled there had been a “legal misunderstanding” resulting in his acquittal.
Lee’s statements during his unsuccessful run for president in 2022 were “deemed false claims concerning matters of sufficient significance to mislead voters in assessing the candidate’s suitability for public office,” the court ruled.
“A candidate seeking public office cannot be granted the same scope and degree of freedom of expression as that afforded to ordinary citizens when they express opinions or beliefs on matters of public interest,” it said.
If found guilty by a lower court, Lee would be prevented from running for office for five years and could face a prison sentence or a fine of more than one million won ($700).
The latest Gallup poll shows the 60-year-old Lee in a considerable lead with 38 percent of support while all his rivals are locked in single digits.
The election was called in the wake of Yoon’s impeachment over the martial law attempt.
While Thursday’s verdict was a blow to Lee, political commentator and attorney Yoo Jung-hoon told AFP: “It usually takes about three months for a lower court to deliberate on a case remanded by the Supreme Court.
“It will be extremely difficult for the court to issue a ruling before the election.”
Even if the court does rule against Lee, he could still appeal, which would “buy him enough time to win,” Yoo said.
Aside from the election law violation case, Lee also faces a string of other trials on corruption allegations.
Should he win the presidency in June, these proceedings could be suspended under presidential immunity, and would resume once his term concludes.
Acting president Han Duk-soo meanwhile resigned on Thursday, hinting at a possible presidential bid.
“Two paths lay before me: one is to carry on in my current role, the other is to step down and take on a greater responsibility,” Han said in a farewell address.
The 75-year-old is expected to formally announce his candidacy on Friday.
Kenya lawmaker’s killing ‘targeted and premeditated’ – police
- Charles Were, a member of parliament representing Kasipul constituency in Kenya’s west, was shot dead on Wednesday evening
- According to witnesses, the shooter was riding as a passenger on a motorcycle that stopped alongside the car
NAIROBI: Kenya’s police have said the fatal shooting of a lawmaker by a gunman aboard a motorcycle in the capital Nairobi on Wednesday evening appeared to be targeted and premeditated.
Charles Were, a member of parliament representing Kasipul constituency in Kenya’s west, was shot dead at around 7:30 p.m. (1630 GMT) when his vehicle was stopped at a traffic light on Ngong Road, police said in a statement released late on Wednesday.
According to witnesses, the shooter was riding as a passenger on a motorcycle that stopped alongside the car, police said.
“The pillion passenger approached the vehicle and fired shots at the passenger side before jumping back onto the motorcycle and speeding away,” police said. “The nature of this crime appears to be both targeted and premeditated.”
Political assassinations are unusual in Kenya, a relatively stable country in a region that has experienced several civil conflicts in recent years.
Were was a member of the opposition ODM party led by veteran politician Raila Odinga, who lost to William Ruto in the last election in 2022.
“Were is no more; mercilessly and in cold blood, gunned down by an assassin in Nairobi this evening,” Odinga wrote on X.
Odinga rejected the 2022 election result, alleging irregularities, but Odinga and some of his allies have since struck agreements to work with Ruto to address Kenya’s economic and political challenges.
Russia may have helped North Korea with new warship, Seoul says
- North Korea has said the destroyer, which it claimed is equipped with the “most powerful weapons,” would “enter into operation early next year”
SEOUL: North Korea’s newly unveiled warship could have involved Russian help, South Korea’s military said on Thursday while cautioning it was still conducting “a more detailed analysis.”
Pyongyang recently unveiled a 5,000-ton destroyer-class vessel named Choe Hyon that some analysts said could be equipped with short-range tactical nuclear missiles.
Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) spokesperson Lee Sung-jun told reporters in South Korea that Russia may have given help with the warship.
“Looking at the weapons and equipment that were revealed, we believe that there is a possibility that they received technology, funds or assistance from Russia,” Lee said.
“We are conducting a more detailed analysis.”
North Korea confirmed on Monday for the first time it had deployed troops to Russia to support Moscow in its war in Ukraine.
The two countries also announced this week that they had started building the first road bridge linking the two neighbors.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un oversaw the first day of a two-day weapons test of the vessel this week, according to Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency, during which he ordered officials to work on “accelerating the nuclear armament of the navy.”
North Korea has said the destroyer, which it claimed is equipped with the “most powerful weapons,” would “enter into operation early next year.”
During the test, Kim said the North’s ship-based firepower system was “effectively combined” with the “most powerful strike means including supersonic cruise missile, strategic cruise missile and tactical ballistic missile.”
Lee said its deployment is likely to require more time.
“In the case of warships it takes several years to build and even after completion it takes additional time for them to become operational,” the JCS spokesperson said.
“So although the Choe Hyon has been unveiled it seems likely that considerably more time will be needed for its (operational) deployment.”
Russian drone attack kills two, injures 15 in Ukraine’s Odesa
- Ukraine’s state-owned railway Ukrzaliznytsia said the overnight attack also damaged its tracks, the contact network and three freight cars
KYIV: Russian drones attacked Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odesa early on Thursday, killing two people and injuring 15 more, in addition to sparking fires and damaging infrastructure, emergency services said.
“The enemy attack damaged residential high-rises, private houses, a supermarket, a school, and cars,” regional governor Oleh Kiper wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Fires broke out in some places and are being extinguished by our rescuers.”
Ukraine’s state-owned railway Ukrzaliznytsia said the overnight attack also damaged its tracks, the contact network and three freight cars.
“Railway employees are carrying out rapid repair work to ensure that freight trains run to ports without interruption. They are currently following an alternative route.”
Passenger trains were running on schedule, it added on Telegram. One of the people killed in his home during the attack on Odesa was a railway worker, according to the company.
Ukraine’s air force said that Russia launched five ballistic missiles and 170 drones during the overnight attack.
The air force shot down 74 drones while another 68 drones did not reach their targets likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures, it said.
It did not specify what happened to the missiles or remaining 28 drones.
Videos posted by Kiper showed heavily damaged facade of a high-rise building, a storefront with shattered windows and fire-fighters battling flames at one of the sites in the city.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the northeast, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said a drone had struck a petrol station in the city center, sparking a fire.
