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Judge Curtis Farber said he was also open to an earlier start
date in September depending on how pretrial discovery plays out.
Weinstein's lawyers say they want to proceed as soon as
possible.
Weinstein, 72, has denied wrongdoing and has denied having any
non-consensual sexual encounters with anyone. Jurors in
Manhattan found him guilty on rape charges in February 2020, but
the New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction in April,
finding Weinstein did not get a fair trial because a judge
improperly allowed testimony by accusers he was not formally
charged with assaulting.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office
revealed in court last week that they intend to charge Weinstein
for “additional violent sexual assaults” after more women agreed
to testify.
The new accusers have not been publicly identified, and
prosecutors are seeking to shield certain evidence from public
view while they prepare to seek a new grand jury indictment.
Farber said on Friday that he will appoint a special magistrate
to referee discovery disputes between the parties as they sift
through new evidence ahead of trial.
Weinstein’s conviction 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 the Miramax film studio co-founder sexually
assaulted former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and
raped aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013. They are among more
than 80 women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Prosecutors have said that they will be ready to retry Weinstein
by the fall. If they obtain a new indictment, they could seek to
combine it with the original case or try both of them
separately.
Arthur Aidala, Weinstein's lawyer, said at last week's hearing
that it was unfair for prosecutors to seek to add additional
victims to the case after the conviction was overturned.
Weinstein is being held in New York City’s Rikers Island jail
ahead of his retrial.
Weinstein was also sentenced to 16 years following a separate
rape trial in California. That conviction was not affected by
the New York court's decision, and he has not begun serving the
California sentence.
Miramax's hit movies included "Shakespeare in Love" and "Pulp
Fiction." Weinstein's film studio filed for bankruptcy in March
2018.
(Reporting by Jack Queen;Editing by Noeleen Walder, Nick
Zieminski and Rod Nickel)
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