A New York judge has rejected Harvey Weinstein's bid to throw out the most serious charges in his sexual assault case.
Weinstein is accused of raping a woman in 2013 and performing a forcible sex act on a different woman in 2006.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His lawyers recently objected to two of the counts - predatory sexual assault, which carries a maximum life sentence - but they were upheld on Wednesday.
Other rulings made public also went against the movie mogul, with Judge James Burke rejecting Weinstein's claim that emails obtained from his movie studio are private.
Mr Burke also denied Weinstein access to the personnel file of a police detective whose alleged witness coaching led prosecutors to drop a charge last year.
Weinstein's spokesman said his lawyers did not have an immediate comment.
His trial is scheduled to begin on January 6.
Weinstein has been accused by nearly 90 women of sexual misconduct dating back decades and has denied all non-consensual sex and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
After multiple indictments and changes in the charges and the number of complaining witnesses, the case against Weinstein now stands at five counts, including rape and predatory sexual assault, involving two accusers and dating to 2013 and 2006.
In addition, a third woman's accusation – that Weinstein raped her in the winter of 1993-94 – is part of the case because her allegation is being offered by the prosecution to back up the predator charge against Weinstein, as required under New York law.
Weinstein's defence team had sought to get certain evidence suppressed and the case tossed on various grounds, including alleged constitutional violations, lack of due process and failure to obtain court authorization for grand jury presentations.
These were all denied by the judge.
