Harvey Weinstein seems in state courtroom in Manhattan as jury choice continues in his retrial on Monday, April 21, 2025 in New York. (Curtis Means/Pool Photograph through AP)
NEW YORK — Opening statements are set for Wednesday in former film mogul Harvey Weinstein‘s rape retrial, this time with a majority-female jury deciding the landmark #MeToo case.
After a dayslong choice course of yielded a seven-woman, five-man jury and 5 alternate jurors by Monday, prosecutors and Weinstein’s legal professionals completed selecting a sixth and ultimate alternate on Tuesday. Alternates step in if a member of the principle panel can’t see the trial by way of.
The principle jury is extra feminine than the 5 girls and 7 males who convicted Weinstein at his first trial 5 years in the past. The decision marked a signature second for the #MeToo motion in opposition to sexual misconduct, which had been fueled in 2017 by a slew of allegations in opposition to Weinstein, then a high-flying film producer of a string of Oscar winners together with “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love.”
However in a reversal that dismayed #MeToo activists, New York’s highest courtroom final 12 months overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction and 23-year jail sentence. The courtroom discovered that the unique trial decide allowed prejudicial testimony. That decide’s time period expired in 2022, and he’s not on the bench.
Weinstein, 73, has pleaded not responsible and denies raping or sexually assaulting anybody.
Drawn from Manhattan’s jury pool, the 12 members of the principle jury for the New York retrial embody a physics researcher, a photographer, a dietitian, a therapist, an funding financial institution software program engineer and a fireplace security director. Others have expertise in actual property, TV commercials, debt assortment, social work and different fields.
One has a highschool equivalency diploma. Others have grasp’s levels. Some have served as jurors or grand jurors a number of instances earlier than; others, by no means.
A whole lot of different potential jurors had been excused for causes starting from language boundaries to sturdy opinions about Weinstein — “the primary phrase that got here in my head was ‘pig,’” mentioned one man who was quickly let go.
These chosen had been quizzed about their backgrounds, life experiences and varied different factors that might relate to their potential to be truthful and neutral concerning the extremely publicized case.
“It’s possible you’ll hear sexual allegations right here of a salacious nature — graphic, maybe. Would listening to that point out that … Mr. Weinstein should be responsible?” protection legal professional Mike Cibella requested one potential juror on Monday. The girl, who finally was chosen, answered no.
Prosecutor Shannon Lucey sought assurances that potential jurors may put apart any place or emotions they’d concerning the #MeToo motion.
“Is there anybody who’s going to consider the motion and suppose, ‘OK, that’s simply one thing that I’ve to maintain behind my thoughts once I’m deciding this case’? Everybody can put that apart?” Lucey requested a bunch of 24 potential jurors. All indicated they may achieve this.
Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault retrial includes accusations from three girls: an aspiring actor who mentioned he raped her in 2013, and two girls who made separate allegations of pressured oral intercourse in 2006. One of many two wasn’t a part of the unique trial.
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In the meantime, Weinstein is difficult a separate 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles.