Movie producer and accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to two new charges of predatory sex assault, leaving court saying he felt “really good” and calling his appearance a homerun.
Weinstein’s attorneys say they will file motions to dismiss the new indictment, which includes allegations by actress Annabella Sciorra that Harvey Weinstein raped her in her Gramercy Park apartment 26 years ago.
“Anabella has done what anyone who has information that is relevant to the prosecution of Harvey Weinstein or any protection should do,” said Gloria Allred, the attorney for Annabella Sciorra. “She provided that information to the prosecution.”
Weinstein does not face additional criminal charges for the allegations made by Scoirra because the allegations date back to before the state eliminated the statute of limitations on rape.
The judge had ruled she couldn’t testify in the trial because prosecutors didn’t present her allegation to the grand jury.
Weinstein faces charges of raping a woman in 2013 and performing forcible sex acts on another woman in 2008. The district attorney convened a new grand jury for those cases to include Sciorra’s allegations.
Her attorney says she knows Sciorra may face a cross examination.
“She was willing to undergo that questioning, even though there is no personal benefit to her. And even though it can be extremely stressful for her to do so,” said Attorney Allred.
The judge moved the trial date from September to January 6th to give time for the defense to file its objections to the prosecutions attempt to consolidate the indictments against Weinstein.
“I think the case itself is weak and I think they feel like they need this portion to help with what they have,” said Donna Rotunno, Weinstein’s attorney.
Weinstein’s attorneys filed a change of venue request last week, claiming he couldn’t get a fair trial in New York City. No ruling has been made on that yet.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and is free on $1 million dollars bail.