Disgraced former movie mogul, Harvey Weinstein, has declared he “never assaulted anyone” during a court hearing amid his third s£x crimes trial in New York.
The 73-year-old was wheeled into the Manhattan courtroom on Thursday local time, as he was urged to consider a plea deal to avoid a third trial.
Weinstein is accused of r@ping aspiring actress Jessica Mann inside a Midtown hotel, with the trial set for March 3, unless he agrees to plead guilty beforehand.
At the end of Thursday’s hearing, Weinstein made an impromptu speech to the court, denying having ever ass@ulted anyone, in a sign of his unwillingness to accept his s£x crimes.
“I admit my moral failings. I was unfaithful and acted wrongly,” he said.
“But I have never assaulted anyone.”
He added that he had “taken and passed lie detector tests” about his conduct with Ms Mann.
Weinstein was convicted of raping Mann at his first trial, in 2020, and of forcing oral s£x on former Project Runway production assistant Mimi Haley.
But the verdict was overturned in a bombshell ruling from New York’s highest appeals court.
At the retrial, Weinstein was convicted again for his conduct against Ms Haley, but could not agree on his alleged offending against Ms Mann.
They also found him not guilty of r@ping a third woman, model Kaja Sokola.
A plea deal would speed up Weinstein’s sentencing date and eventual transfer to either a prison in upstate New York or in California, where he was separately convicted of rape and sentenced to 16 years behind bars.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, told the court about his client’s poor health, which was being made worse during his time behind bars at Rikers Island.
“He’s in the worst place you can basically be,” Aidala told the court.
“I need to get him out of there as soon as possible.”
Judge Curtis Farber urged Mr Aidala to discuss a potential plea deal with prosecutors. Mr Aidala then left the courtroom to discuss Weinstein’s options with prosecutors.
“I understand that your client wants additional time to think about it,” Judge Curtis Farber said before wrapping up the hearing.
At a third trial, Ms Mann would be required to testify again about the once-powerful studio boss allegedly r@ping her in 2013 at the DoubleTree hotel.
