'Sopranos' Actress Who Accused Harvey Weinstein of Rape May Testify at His Trial

Weinstein, once one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers, has been indicted in Manhattan on rape and other sex crime charges stemming from the accusations of two other women. His trial starts Sept. 9.

But now the district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., is maneuvering to use Sciorra’s account at trial to bolster counts in the indictment that charge Weinstein with predatory sexual assault. The charge carries a life sentence.

To do that, Vance’s office asked a grand jury to hear her testimony and to vote on a new indictment. The grand jury began listening to testimony and reviewing evidence this week, according to court records. It is expected to vote on a new indictment Aug. 26.

The lead prosecutor, Joan Illuzzi-Orbon, said in a letter to the judge Tuesday that Sciorra did not come forward until after the initial grand jury had concluded, and now prosecutors “wish to cure any deficiency in the charges.”

Prosecutors sought to present testimony from Sciorra to a new grand jury only after the judge, Justice James Burke, had ruled this month that her evidence was not permissible because they had not informed the first grand jury.

Burke had ruled that the prosecution’s request amounted to a “‘constructive amendment’ of the indictment and usurps the role of the grand jury.”

The move by Vance’s office was the latest twist in the case against Weinstein, 67, who was initially indicted on sex crime charges involving three women: one who accused him of raping her and two others who said he had forced them to engage in oral sex with him.

But last year, a judge dismissed one of the charges after it came to light that a detective on the case had committed a serious error. That charge concerned Lucia Evans, a marketing executive, who told investigators that Weinstein had forced her to perform oral sex on him in his TriBeCa office in 2004.

Weinstein now faces five charges based on the testimony of the two remaining accusers: an unidentified woman who told police Weinstein overpowered her in a Midtown hotel room in March 2013, and Mimi Haleyi, a production assistant, who said Weinstein forcibly held her down and performed oral sex on her at his Manhattan apartment in 2006.

The indictment includes two counts of predatory sexual assault, which requires prosecutors to prove that Weinstein committed a serious sexual assault against at least two women.

Weinstein has denied the allegations and has said the sexual encounters were consensual.

Prosecutors hope Sciorra’s testimony will strengthen the case, particularly the predatory sexual assault counts, by establishing a pattern of behavior. Her testimony before the grand jury was first reported in The New York Post.

Weinstein’s lawyers criticized the district attorney for pulling what they described as a last-minute maneuver, saying in court papers that it was “an example of prosecutorial overreach.”

“It’s an odd attempt at the eleventh hour,” Donna Rotunno, one of Weinstein’s lawyers, said in an interview.

The district attorney’s office this year asked the judge overseeing the case to allow testimony of several other women who maintain Weinstein assaulted them, but whose cases are too old to prosecute.

Burke held a hearing on whether evidence of uncharged crimes — known as “prior bad acts” — would be permitted, but the public was not allowed to attend and he has yet to release his decision.

But in a letter from prosecutors to Burke, Illuzzi-Orbon expressed appreciation for the “significant Molineux decision” and allowing prosecutors to “call additional witnesses.”

Similarly, in Bill Cosby’s second trial, prosecutors included the testimony of five other accusers to help bolster their case. Last year, a jury convicted the 82-year-old entertainer, who is serving a three-to-10-year sentence for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.