Weinstein, 66, has said through his lawyer,
Benjamin Brafman, that he has never had non-consensual sex and
plans to plead not guilty.
His appearance in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday morning
comes after a grand jury indicted him last week in two cases.
Weinstein turned himself in at a New York police station on May
25, and was taken to court in handcuffs for his initial
arraignment. A judge ordered him released on a $1 million cash
bail on condition that he surrender his U.S. passport and agree
to wear a location-tracking device. He was ordered to remain in
New York state or Connecticut.
More than 70 women have accused Weinstein, the co-founder of the
Miramax film studio and The Weinstein Co, of sexual misconduct,
including rape, with some allegations dating back decades, all
of which he has denied.
The accusations, first reported by the New York Times and the
New Yorker last year, gave rise to the #MeToo movement, in which
hundreds of women have publicly accused powerful men in
business, government and entertainment of misconduct.
Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office did
not name the two women accusing Weinstein of sexual assault in
the criminal complaint filed against him following a months-long
investigation with the New York Police Department.
The details of one of the cases closely align with the account
of Lucia Evans, a former aspiring actress who told the New
Yorker that Weinstein forced her to give him oral sex in 2004.
If convicted on the most serious charges, Weinstein could face
between five and 25 years in prison.
Once a fixture of elite Manhattan and Los Angeles society,
Weinstein has been ostracized since the accusations became
public. He went to Arizona for sex addiction therapy.
The Weinstein Co's board fired him, the company filed for
bankruptcy in March, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences expelled him. In years past, the Academy had showered
him with Oscars for a string of films that helped define
independent cinema in the 1990s, including "Shakespeare in Love"
and "Pulp Fiction."
London's Metropolitan Police and Los Angeles prosecutors have
said they are reviewing accusations of sexual assault against
him.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; editing by Jonathan
Oatis)
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