Grand jury in NYC returns new indictment against Harvey Weinstein

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A grand jury has returned a new indictment against Harvey Weinstein, prosecutors with the Manhattan DA's office said in court.

Weinstein, who is recuperating after emergency heart surgery, was not present and prosecutors asked the judge to set a date for his arraignment.

Weinstein's lawyers on Thursday said he would have liked to be present but currently has a shunt in his chest.

After a back and forth with the prosecution, Judge Curtis Farber did rule that he would remain at Bellevue Hospital's prison ward for the time being instead of going back to Riker's Island where he was being held because "inattention carries very real risks that he could find himself again in a crisis."

The Manhattan DA did confirm there is a new indictment with new alleged victims and they are asking for these charges to be consolidated with the original indictment.

Weinstein's lawyers were not pleased.

"We don't know what the exact accusations are. No matter if you think Harvey is the worst or best, it's not the way our criminal justice system is supposed to work. It's just not," said Arthur Adala, attorney.

That indictment will remain under seal until the arraignment tentatively scheduled for next Wednesday, Weinstein's attorneys can't guarantee he will be well enough.

A trial is tentatively scheduled for November.

Weinstein became the most prominent villain of the #MeToo movement, which took root in 2017 when women began to go public with accounts of his behavior.

At the original trial, Weinstein was convicted of forcibly performing oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and rape in the third degree for an attack on an aspiring actor in 2013. Those allegations will be part of his retrial. Weinstein's acquittals on charges of predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape still stand.

After the retrial, Weinstein is due to start serving a 16-year sentence in California for a separate rape conviction in Los Angeles, authorities said. Weinstein was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022.

Weinstein, the co-founder of Miramax and The Weinstein Company film studios, was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, producing such Oscar winners as "Pulp Fiction" and "Shakespeare in Love."

(ABC News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.)