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 attorneys completed selecting a sixth and remaining alternate on Tuesday. Alternates step in if a member of the principle panel cannot see the trial by.
The primary jury is extra feminine than the 5 ladies 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 towards sexual misconduct, which had been fueled in 2017 by a slew of allegations towards 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 court docket final yr overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction and 23-year jail sentence. The court docket 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.
Tons of of different potential jurors have been excused for causes starting from language obstacles to sturdy opinions about Weinstein – “the primary phrase that got here in my head was ‘pig,'” stated one man who was quickly let go.
These chosen have been quizzed about their backgrounds, life experiences and varied different factors that might relate to their means to be honest and neutral concerning the extremely publicized case.
“Chances are 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 lady, who in the end was chosen, answered no.
Prosecutor Shannon Lucey sought assurances that potential jurors may put apart any place or emotions that they had concerning the #MeToo motion.
“Is there anybody who’s going to consider the motion and assume, ‘OK, that is simply one thing that I’ve to maintain at the back of my thoughts once I’m deciding this case’? Everybody can put that apart?” Lucey requested a gaggle of 24 doable jurors. All indicated they might achieve this.
Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault retrial includes accusations from three ladies: an aspiring actor who stated he raped her in 2013, and two ladies who made separate allegations of compelled oral intercourse in 2006. One of many two wasn’t a part of the unique trial.
In the meantime, Weinstein is difficult a separate 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles.
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