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Harvey Weinstein in court in Los Angeles
Photo: Etienne Laurent / AP
Another five women accuse him of rape or sexual assault: Former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has to stand trial again in Los Angeles.
Now a judge has rejected two applications from the 69-year-old former film producer.
Weinstein wanted three lawsuits to be dropped for statute of limitations.
The responsible judge Lisa Lench only complied with one case.
The film producer from New York was transferred to Los Angeles, California, last week. Here he is accused, among other things, of raping an Italian model in a hotel in Beverly Hills in February 2013 and then sexually abusing Lauren Young, a budding actress, in the bathroom of another hotel. Young already appeared as a witness in the trial in New York. The other charges against Weinstein in Los Angeles date back to 2004.
Weinstein's attorney Mark Werksman spoke of a victory for his client after the hearing on Thursday.
One woman was thus excluded from the proceedings.
If convicted, Weinstein faces a prison sentence of up to 140 years.
He has been serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York since last year.
Weinstein's lawyers had tried in advance to prevent their client from being transferred to Los Angeles and, among other things, cited health reasons.
A New York jury jury found the founder of the Miramax film studio guilty of rape in a minor case and of serious sexual assault in February 2020.
The following month, a judge sentenced Weinstein to the long prison term.
Weinstein denies all allegations and has appealed against his conviction.
A total of around 90 women, including well-known actresses such as Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek and Gwyneth Paltrow, accused Weinstein of sexual harassment or violence.
The news of the allegations triggered the worldwide #MeToo movement against sexual violence against women in autumn 2017.
kha / AFP / dpa / Reuters