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Harvey Weinstein Pleads Not Guilty to Fresh Charges

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Harvey Weinstein Pleads Not Guilty to Fresh Charges
Film producer Harvey Weinstein arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, on July 9, 2018. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)
Holly Kellum
7/9/2018
Updated:
7/9/2018
Harvey Weinstein, 66, appeared in a Manhattan court again on July 9 to plead not guilty to two counts of predatory sexual assault, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The charges stem from an incident in 2006 in which a woman said he performed an unwanted sex act on her.
That charge was revealed on July 2 when a grand jury agreed to an amendment of the indictment against Weinstein.
He was already facing first- and third-degree rape, and first-degree criminal sexual charges for incidents in 2004 and 2013. Only Lucia Evans, a once-aspiring actress, has been named as a plaintiff in the case.
Evans, now a marketing consultant, told The New Yorker that Weinstein forced her to perform a sex act after telling her she would be meeting a female casting director in the middle of the day at his Tribeca office. When she arrived, Weinstein was alone. She said he “overpowered” her.

Weinstein left the court on $1 million bail despite the prosecution asking for him to be placed under house arrest.

“We are pleased,” his attorney, Benjamin Brafman, told reporters outside the courtroom. “The court agreed by keeping the same bail conditions [as the previous two charges]. So we fight these battles one day at a time and today we won this round.”

Brafman said he expected more charges to be filed against his client.

“My guess would be that they came with the most serious charges that they could find first, that would be my expectation. If there’s more, we'll deal with them when they come. I can’t deal with charges that may one day be filed. It’s just not the way a criminal lawyer operates.”

He added that Weinstein’s goal was to clear his name and “go back to making movies.”

He’s due back in court on Sept. 20.