By MICHAEL R. SISAK, Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein has hired Luigi Mangione and Sean “Diddy” Combs’ lawyers to represent him at his third New York rape trial, reshaping his legal team after declining to end the matter with a guilty plea.
The lawyers, Jacob Kaplan, Marc Agnifilo and Teny Geragos, confirmed the move in court papers Tuesday. They take over for Weinstein’s longtime lawyer, Arthur Aidala, who ceded his courtroom role to focus on the ex-studio boss’ appeals and pending civil matters.
Kaplan was a member of Weinstein’s original defense team in 2018 and is expected to have a leading role in his defense at the third trial, which involves a charge that the Oscar-winning producer raped hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel in 2013.
At a hearing in January, Weinstein insisted he “never assaulted anyone” and said his “spirit was breaking” after nearly six years behind bars.
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Kaplan and Agnifilo are representing Mangione in his parallel state and federal cases in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. They succeed in getting terrorism charges thrown out in the state case and the death penalty barred in the federal case.
Agnifilo and Geragos represented Combs, achieving a split verdict and acquittals on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, and currently are among the lawyers defending wealthy brothers Alon, Oren and Tal Alexander at their sex trafficking trial in Manhattan federal court.
Kaplan, Agnifilo and Geragos are all partners at the Manhattan firm Agnifilo Intrater.
“Harvey believes that, after two prior trials on this matter, a recalibrated outlook and strategic approach offers the most effective path forward,” Weinstein spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said.
In a messy split verdict last June, Weinstein was convicted of forcing oral sex on one woman, Miriam Haley, acquitted of forcibly performing oral sex on another woman, Kaja Sokola, and the jury didn’t decide on the rape charge involving Mann. Deliberations ended when the foreperson refused to participate further.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Haley, Sokola and Mann have done.
Weinstein and his lawyers argued that the retrial verdict was tainted by infighting and bullying among jurors. Judge Curtis Farber, who will also oversee the third trial, rejected that, telling Weinstein at the January hearing: “You had a fair trial.”
At his first trial, in 2020, Weinstein was convicted of raping Mann and forcing oral sex on Haley, but New York’s highest court overturned those convictions and ordered last year’s retrial. The Court of Appeals ruled that Weinstein was prejudiced by testimony about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Weinstein and Aidala, who argued the appeal and represented Weinstein at his original trial and retrial, appeared to come to a mutual and amicable agreement about the lawyer’s shifting role.
“Our work does not end here,” Aidala said. “We will continue to advocate forcefully on his behalf in the appellate courts, where we are confident that serious legal errors will be addressed and his most significant conviction will ultimately be overturned.”
Kaplan, Agnifilo and Geragos are in the midst of several high-profile cases, including Mangione’s state trial slated to begin June 8, which could affect the timing of Weinstein’s trial. Even without accusers other than Mann, prosecutors have said it could take up to five weeks.
Weinstein faces up to 25 years in prison for the charge he was convicted on: first-degree criminal sex act involving Haley. The unresolved third-degree rape charge involving Mann is punishable by up to four years — less than he already has served.
The Oscar-winning producer has been behind bars since his initial conviction in 2020, and was sentenced to prison in a separate California case that he is appealing.
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