Harvey Weinstein has swapped in a new attorney as an upcoming retrial in his New York rape cases looms. The imprisoned former Hollywood mogul has jettisoned his powerhouse team for the next moment in court as his longtime attorneys carry out an appeal on his other verdict.
Jacob Kaplan of Agnifilo Intrater has been tapped by the disgraced convicted rapist, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. A scheduled court appearance to iron out details of the upcoming trial was pushed on Wednesday to next week. Prosecutors and defense counsel are working toward resolving the remaining third-degree rape charge that ended in mistrial, but it may go to trial.
Weinstein has been in prison for four years, initially serving a now-vacated 23-year New York sentence after his 2020 trial in New York ended with him found guilty. The 73-year-old former Hollywood kingmaker was originally convicted in New York of criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree. But the verdicts were overturned in April 2024 when, in a 4-3 decision, New York’s Court of Appeals ruled that the 2020 trial judge allowed testimony from women whose allegations were not part of the formal charges.
Weinstein’s retrial in March would come after the initial 2025 retrial, where a partial jury verdict was unable to decide whether he raped actress Jessica Mann. In the retrial, he was convicted of forcing oral sex on Miriam Haley, a former Project Runway assistant, in 2006. He was acquitted of forcing oral sex on former model Kaja Sokola during the retrial. The trial for the third-degree rape charge comes after the ex-mogul failed to respond to a plea deal offer that could have allowed him to serve time on the sexual assault and rape charges concurrently and could include time served.
Weinstein’s bid for a new trial based on claims of juror coercion in the 2025 retrial was recently rejected by the court.
Kaplan, who represents accused killer Luigi Mangione in his state murder case, will be joined by his colleagues Marc Agnifilo, also representing Mangione, and Teny Geragos, who recently defended Sean “Diddy” Combs in his sex trafficking and racketeering trial.
Weinstein’s previous team of attorneys with the firm Aidala Bertuna & Kamins, who handled the first two times this case went to trial, will stay on to work on an appeal of his latest verdict. Attorney Arthur Aidala said “serious errors” in the recent conviction will be looked at; he’s confident that it will be overturned.
“As trial counsel for Harvey Weinstein in two separate proceedings, we have fought vigorously to protect his rights and ensure that he received a fair trial,” Aidala said in a statement to THR. “Our work does not end here. We will continue to advocate forcefully on his behalf in appellate courts, where we are confident that serious legal errors will be addressed and his most significant conviction will ultimately be overturned, as we have achieved in the past.
“In addition, we continue to represent Mr. Weinstein in all pending civil matters and are fully supporting his new counsel in every way necessary to ensure a coordinated and comprehensive legal strategy,” he added.
In addition to the New York convictions, Weinstein was found guilty in a separate West Coast trial in 2022 of rape and sexual assault against one of four women he was accused of assaulting in Los Angeles. While his New York convictions were vacated, he remains in prison at Rikers Island in New York based on his L.A. conviction.