A key witness from the original trial of former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has confirmed she will testify in his upcoming retrial on criminal charges.
Mimi Haley, a former production assistant on “Project Runway,” announced her decision after initially expressing hesitation following Weinstein’s conviction being overturned earlier this year.
Haley had previously said she wasn’t sure if she wanted to relive the trauma.
“It involves so much retraumatizing and rehashing and reliving over and over again,” she said. However, her attorney, Gloria Allred, stated, “Haley believes it is the right thing to do and that it is important that she testifies.”
Weinstein was convicted in 2020 of a first-degree criminal sexual act against Haley and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Haley accused Weinstein of assaulting her in his Manhattan apartment in 2006.
His total sentence of 23 years also included a separate conviction for third-degree rape of Jessica Mann in a New York hotel room in 2013.
Earlier this year, the New York Court of Appeals overturned Weinstein’s convictions, ruling that his constitutional rights were violated during the trial.
Despite the setback, both Haley and Mann have agreed to testify again in the retrial, which is scheduled to begin on November 12.
Weinstein, 72, is currently serving time in prison while appealing a separate 2022 conviction in Los Angeles, where he was sentenced to 16 years for sexual assault.
He also faces new sexual assault allegations in New York, where an arraignment is pending, depending on his medical condition following recent heart and lung procedures.
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