Mr. Weinstein did not testify during the original trial. His lawyers told The New York Times that if he had, the judge would have allowed the prosecution to question him about other allegations related to physical assaults, threats and other violent behavior.
Mr. Weinstein wants to testify in a new trial, Mr. Aidala said, though he called it a “game-time decision.” A second trial could open Mr. Weinstein up to a brutal cross-examination by prosecutors.
“He has proclaimed his innocence, unequivocally and repeatedly,” Mr. Aidala said.
On Wednesday, Mr. Weinstein will appear at a hearing in the same courthouse where he was tried and convicted. It will be the first step in the process toward a new trial, should the district attorney decide to retry him.
Because the appeals court cited legal errors in overturning the conviction — but did not exonerate Mr. Weinstein — the ruling may also galvanize victims to “want to fight harder,” said Scott Berkowitz, the president of
RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, a nonprofit.
But if prosecutors drop the case, he said, it would have “a really deflating and depressing effect.”
A new jury would hear from only one or both of the women whom he was convicted of assaulting, in what analysts say will be a much narrower and weaker case.
www.nytimes.com
www.usmarshals.gov
