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Los Angeles, June 11 (IANS): The trial date for court proceedings for charges of rape and other multiple sex crimes against Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein has been set as October 10, 2022.
At a downtown hearing with Weinstein present, LA Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench marked the date for the start of the jury trial, reports 'Deadline'.
Once jurors are selected, the proceedings are anticipated to take about two months. A spokesperson for Weinstein told 'Deadline', "We have four months to prepare and we are ready to face this and win it.
Looking at 140 years behind bars if found guilty, Weinstein is facing grand jury indictments of four counts of rape, four counts of forcible oral copulation, one count of sexual penetration by use of force, plus one count of sexual battery by restraint and sexual battery in incidents involving five women in L.A. County over a nine-year period.
Last year, one of Weinstein's West Coast attorney Mark Werksman proclaimed that the material was submitted to the grand jury by LA County D.A. George Gascon's office in the summer of 2021 was "weak and insufficient. Despite numerous motions by the defense, the judge has rejected all attempts to have the matter dismissed or diminished.
'Deadline' further states that Weinstein, who is currently held in DTLA's Twin Towers Correctional Facility, recently had his appeal of his New York State 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges in Manhattan rejected unanimously by a five-judge panel.
Additionally, Weinstein was hit on June 8 by UK officials with two counts of indecent assault against a woman in London in August 1996. It is unclear right now, how and when the once looming mogul will actually face British justice as his convictions and trials pile up.
First charged and arrested for rape in May 2018 after detailed revelations by the New York Times in October 2017 into decades of abuse and alleged assaults by Weinstein, the producer was sentenced to 23 years in prison just over two years ago. After a prolonged legal battle over jurisdictions during the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic, Weinstein was flown out to LA on July 20 last year.