Harvey Weinstein Pleads Not Guilty To New Charges, Won’t Face Home Confinement

NEW YORK (NY)
Deadline

July 9, 2018

By Dade Hayes

Harvey Weinstein was led into a New York courtroom in handcuffs this morning and entered a plea of not guilty to charges of committing a forcible sexual act in the first degree.

Along with the plea, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Burke heard but did not rule on prosecutors’ demands for a more stringent bail arrangement. The debate about bail took up most of the 15-minute arraignment.

Weinstein, who wore a black suit and tie, has been out on $1 million bail and staying at his longtime family home in Connecticut in recent months. Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi, the lead prosecutor, began the proceeding by asking that Weinstein instead be confined to house arrest in Manhattan given the more serious charges he now faces.

Last month, the Manhattan District Attorney hit Weinstein with heavier charges than he had previously been facing in New York, a more serious degree of sexual assault which could potentially put him in prison for life. The charge of committing a forcible sexual act in the first degree pertains to the allegations of a third woman, following the previous case based on the accounts of two other women.

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.