Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on new criminal charges before his rape retrial in New York, according to prosecutors.
The specific charges are not yet known because the disgraced Hollywood producer’s latest indictment is under seal until his arraignment, which is scheduled for Sept 18.
Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction was thrown out earlier this year after the New York Court of Appeals ruled he did not get a fair trial because a judge allowed testimony from accusers who he was not formally charged with assaulting.
Weinstein is currently recovering from emergency heart surgery after he was rushed to hospital from New York’s Rikers Island jail on Sunday.
Manhattan prosecutors previously said that they were investigating additional violent sexual assaults allegedly committed by Weinstein, 72, after more women agreed to testify against him. He has denied ever having non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone.
During a New York state court hearing in Manhattan on Thursday, prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said that a grand jury had indicted Weinstein on additional charges.
Arthur Aidala, Weinstein’s defence lawyer, said that the grand jury was probing three “matters”, but did not know whether that referred to specific incidents or the number of accusers.
Weinstein lawyers to ‘try to delay trial’
Prosector Matthew Colangelo previously said that the allegations involve an alleged sexual assault at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, another sexual assault between 2005 and 2006 in Lower Manhattan and a third in May 2016 at a hotel in Tribeca, The New York Times reported.
The judge has tentatively set a trial date for Nov 12, but Mr Aidala told reporters that his team would try to delay any trial containing new charges.
Despite the reversal of his New York conviction, Weinstein has remained in custody in New York because of a separate rape conviction in California.
The judge ordered that Weinstein remain in custody at Bellevue Hospital, finding that the latest health care showed he was not getting adequate treatment at Rikers Island.
Weinstein’s initial conviction in New York was a milestone for the #MeToo movement, in which women accused hundreds of men in entertainment, media, politics and other fields of sexual misconduct.
A jury found that Weinstein sexually assaulted Miriam Haley, a former production assistant, in 2006 and raped Jessica Mann, an aspiring actress, in 2013. They are among more than 80 women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the New York case and 16 years in prison for the separate California case.
Weinstein’s lawyers say that their client is beset with health problems. He underwent emergency heart surgery on Monday to remove fluid on his heart and lungs, and was not at Thursday’s hearing.