New York
Prosecutors want to combine Weinstein’s criminal cases into a single trial
NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors are asking a Manhattan judge to consolidate the two sex crime cases that Harvey Weinstein faces in New York into a single trial this year — a move that the disgraced movie mogul’s lawyers oppose.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office argued in court filings released Friday that the cases have significant overlap as they involve similar criminal statutes, witnesses, expert testimony and documentary evidence.
They say separate trials would be “extraordinarily inefficient and burdensome” and waste judicial resources.
“There is a strong public interest in consolidating these indictments for trial because separate trials would require duplicative, lengthy, and expensive proceedings that would needlessly consume judicial and party resources,” the office wrote in its filings.
Weinstein is awaiting retrial on two sex charges stemming from his landmark #MeToo case after the state’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction earlier this year.
He also pleaded not guilty last month to a new sex crime charge in which prosecutors say he forced oral sex on a woman in a Manhattan hotel in spring 2006.
Weinstein’s lawyers, in court filings submitted earlier this month, argued the cases should remain separate.
They said prosecutors are attempting to “expand the scope” of the court-ordered retrial and transform it into “an entirely new proceeding” by including the new charges.
“Having deprived Defendant of a fair trial once, the People unapologetically—indeed, unabashedly—seek to do so again by smuggling an additional charge into the case for the improper purpose of bolstering the credibility of the complainant in the 2024 indictment,” Weinstein’s lawyers wrote.
A judge is expected to consider the arguments at a hearing later this month.
Weinstein, who has been in custody since his conviction, was also convicted of rape in Los Angeles in 2022, though his lawyers have appealed.
The 72-year-old co-founded the film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company and, produced films such as “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Crying Game.”
Manhattan prosecutors, in their filings, laid out some of their plans for the upcoming retrial, which had been slated to open Nov. 12.
They said they intend to call 12 to 15 witnesses to testify on issues relevant to both the new and old charges, including the victims and corroborating witnesses.
Prosecutors said they’ll also call on experts with knowledge of Weinstein’s “status and influence in the entertainment industry” both in order to “establish the power imbalance” between the once-powerful producer and the victims, many of whom worked in the industry.
They also anticipate testimony from a photographer who can corroborate testimony from the victims about “distinctive features” of Weinstein’s body, something that was also a focus during his prior trial.
Weinstein’s lawyers, meanwhile, complained that prosecutors had long been aware of the allegations in the latest criminal indictment yet “held this case in their back pocket for years.”
They said Bragg’s office had been in contact with the latest accuser going back to Weinstein’s original trial and that she’s changed her stories about her interactions with Weinstein over the years.
Lindsay Goldbrum, an attorney that represents the woman, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday.
She’s previously said the woman has never made her accusation public and doesn’t want to be identified for now.
California
Jury finds ex-member of rock band Mr. Bungle guilty of killing his girlfriend
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — A founding member of the experimental rock band Mr. Bungle was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the killing of his girlfriend after prosecutors in California found an audio file the victim recorded on her phone as she fought for her life.
A jury in Santa Cruz deliberated for a day before finding Theobald “Theo” Lengyel guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of his girlfriend Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann on the night of Dec. 4, 2023, inside her Capitola home, KSBW-TV reported. Lengyel faces life in prison and is set to be sentenced in November.
Lengyel, 55, was arrested in January after investigators found Herrmann’s remains in a wooded area of Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley. Herrmann was reported missing the previous month after she didn’t show up to a family gathering in Hawaii.
On Oct. 1, prosecutors played an audio recorded on Herrmann’s phone begging for her life as her boyfriend strangled her to death, KRON-TV reported.
It is unclear if Herrmann, 61, intentionally recorded the audio or if the app inadvertently recorded it.
District Attorney’s Office Inspector Steven Ryan testified that investigators did not discover the chilling audio file until Sept. 22, 2024, a month after Lengyel’s murder trial began.
The recording starts with Lengyel playing piano before growing angry at Herrmann because she doesn’t want to go out to play pool. Herrmann repeatedly says she does not want to go because she has to work in Berkeley the next day.
A few minutes into their argument, Lengyel can be heard threatening his girlfriend stating, “I could mash your f***ing brain.”
According to prosecutors, the verbal argument escalated into a physical altercation. Herrmann could then be heard pleading for her life, gasping for air.
Lengyel left Mr. Bungle in 1996 after playing saxophone, clarinet and keyboards on several recordings, including the band’s self-titled 1991 debut album and “Disco Volante” in 1995. He did not participate in any of the band’s recent reunion tours, which began in 2020.
Mr. Bungle was formed in Northern California’s Humboldt County in 1985 by high school friends including guitarist Trey Spruance, bassist Trevor Dunn and vocalist Mike Patton, who went on to perform with Faith No More. Mr. Bungle experimented with funk, heavy metal, electronic, jazz and other musical styles, gaining popularity during the alternative rock boom of the 1990s.
In a 2005 Q&A, Dunn said Lengyel left the band on bad terms, SF Gate reported.
Prosecutors want to combine Weinstein’s criminal cases into a single trial
NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors are asking a Manhattan judge to consolidate the two sex crime cases that Harvey Weinstein faces in New York into a single trial this year — a move that the disgraced movie mogul’s lawyers oppose.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office argued in court filings released Friday that the cases have significant overlap as they involve similar criminal statutes, witnesses, expert testimony and documentary evidence.
They say separate trials would be “extraordinarily inefficient and burdensome” and waste judicial resources.
“There is a strong public interest in consolidating these indictments for trial because separate trials would require duplicative, lengthy, and expensive proceedings that would needlessly consume judicial and party resources,” the office wrote in its filings.
Weinstein is awaiting retrial on two sex charges stemming from his landmark #MeToo case after the state’s highest court overturned his 2020 conviction earlier this year.
He also pleaded not guilty last month to a new sex crime charge in which prosecutors say he forced oral sex on a woman in a Manhattan hotel in spring 2006.
Weinstein’s lawyers, in court filings submitted earlier this month, argued the cases should remain separate.
They said prosecutors are attempting to “expand the scope” of the court-ordered retrial and transform it into “an entirely new proceeding” by including the new charges.
“Having deprived Defendant of a fair trial once, the People unapologetically—indeed, unabashedly—seek to do so again by smuggling an additional charge into the case for the improper purpose of bolstering the credibility of the complainant in the 2024 indictment,” Weinstein’s lawyers wrote.
A judge is expected to consider the arguments at a hearing later this month.
Weinstein, who has been in custody since his conviction, was also convicted of rape in Los Angeles in 2022, though his lawyers have appealed.
The 72-year-old co-founded the film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company and, produced films such as “Shakespeare in Love” and “The Crying Game.”
Manhattan prosecutors, in their filings, laid out some of their plans for the upcoming retrial, which had been slated to open Nov. 12.
They said they intend to call 12 to 15 witnesses to testify on issues relevant to both the new and old charges, including the victims and corroborating witnesses.
Prosecutors said they’ll also call on experts with knowledge of Weinstein’s “status and influence in the entertainment industry” both in order to “establish the power imbalance” between the once-powerful producer and the victims, many of whom worked in the industry.
They also anticipate testimony from a photographer who can corroborate testimony from the victims about “distinctive features” of Weinstein’s body, something that was also a focus during his prior trial.
Weinstein’s lawyers, meanwhile, complained that prosecutors had long been aware of the allegations in the latest criminal indictment yet “held this case in their back pocket for years.”
They said Bragg’s office had been in contact with the latest accuser going back to Weinstein’s original trial and that she’s changed her stories about her interactions with Weinstein over the years.
Lindsay Goldbrum, an attorney that represents the woman, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday.
She’s previously said the woman has never made her accusation public and doesn’t want to be identified for now.
California
Jury finds ex-member of rock band Mr. Bungle guilty of killing his girlfriend
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) — A founding member of the experimental rock band Mr. Bungle was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the killing of his girlfriend after prosecutors in California found an audio file the victim recorded on her phone as she fought for her life.
A jury in Santa Cruz deliberated for a day before finding Theobald “Theo” Lengyel guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of his girlfriend Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann on the night of Dec. 4, 2023, inside her Capitola home, KSBW-TV reported. Lengyel faces life in prison and is set to be sentenced in November.
Lengyel, 55, was arrested in January after investigators found Herrmann’s remains in a wooded area of Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley. Herrmann was reported missing the previous month after she didn’t show up to a family gathering in Hawaii.
On Oct. 1, prosecutors played an audio recorded on Herrmann’s phone begging for her life as her boyfriend strangled her to death, KRON-TV reported.
It is unclear if Herrmann, 61, intentionally recorded the audio or if the app inadvertently recorded it.
District Attorney’s Office Inspector Steven Ryan testified that investigators did not discover the chilling audio file until Sept. 22, 2024, a month after Lengyel’s murder trial began.
The recording starts with Lengyel playing piano before growing angry at Herrmann because she doesn’t want to go out to play pool. Herrmann repeatedly says she does not want to go because she has to work in Berkeley the next day.
A few minutes into their argument, Lengyel can be heard threatening his girlfriend stating, “I could mash your f***ing brain.”
According to prosecutors, the verbal argument escalated into a physical altercation. Herrmann could then be heard pleading for her life, gasping for air.
Lengyel left Mr. Bungle in 1996 after playing saxophone, clarinet and keyboards on several recordings, including the band’s self-titled 1991 debut album and “Disco Volante” in 1995. He did not participate in any of the band’s recent reunion tours, which began in 2020.
Mr. Bungle was formed in Northern California’s Humboldt County in 1985 by high school friends including guitarist Trey Spruance, bassist Trevor Dunn and vocalist Mike Patton, who went on to perform with Faith No More. Mr. Bungle experimented with funk, heavy metal, electronic, jazz and other musical styles, gaining popularity during the alternative rock boom of the 1990s.
In a 2005 Q&A, Dunn said Lengyel left the band on bad terms, SF Gate reported.
