Weinstein Said to Be Indicted in Los Angeles on Sex Crimes Charges

The new indictment was unsealed in Los Angeles on Monday, just hours after Weinstein, who recently had back surgery, hobbled into a Manhattan courtroom with a walker for the start of his rape trial.

Outside the courthouse dozens of protesters gathered, including several actresses who have accused him of wrongdoing.

Rose McGowan, an actress who has accused Weinstein of sexual assault, called the trial “a moment of justice,” even though most of Weinstein’s accusers “won’t have even one day in court.”

McGowan was joined by seven other women in the entertainment industry as they stood in Foley Square, a park two blocks from the criminal courthouse.

Inside court, a judge dealt a blow to Weinstein’s defense Monday, ruling it cannot call as a witness the disgraced detective who withheld evidence from prosecutors that was favorable to the defense.

Weinstein’s lawyers had hoped to call the detective, Nicholas DiGaudio, as part of an effort to cast doubt on the New York City Police Department investigation of Weinstein.

Weinstein dropped his head into his hands after the judge’s ruling.

Jury selection in the trial will begin Tuesday.

Six women are expected to testify about sexual encounters with Weinstein, though the criminal charges hinge entirely on allegations made by two of them.

Weinstein is charged with raping one woman, who has not been identified in court documents, at a Manhattan hotel in March 2013 and forcing a second woman, Mimi Haleyi, a production assistant, to allow him to perform oral sex on her at his apartment in Manhattan in 2006.

He faces one count of rape and one count of criminal sexual act in those cases, and if convicted could be sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison.

Weinstein maintains that his sexual encounters with the women were consensual.

The producer also faces a charge of predatory sexual assault for committing a serious sex crime against more than one person. If convicted of that charge, Weinstein faces a maximum of life in prison.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .