Harvey Weinstein is trial for intercourse crimes in New York, once more : NPR

Harvey Weinstein seems in courtroom for a pre-trial listening to on Wednesday, April 9, 2025 in New York.

Jefferson Siegel/AP

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Jefferson Siegel/AP

Former movie producer Harvey Weinstein is on trial for intercourse crimes, once more. Jury choice started on Tuesday in a decrease Manhattan courtroom, the place Weinstein, as soon as one of the vital highly effective individuals in Hollywood, should reply prices that he sexually assaulted three completely different girls.

Over the course of the trial’s first day, roughly 140 potential jurors have been seated in Choose Curtis Farber’s courtroom. However by late within the day, solely about 40 remained. Lots of these dismissed raised their fingers when requested by the decide in the event that they doubted they may very well be honest and neutral. Choose Farber did particular person, closed-door questioning with a number of women and men who mentioned they or somebody near them had skilled sexual abuse.

Weinstein was within the courtroom all through, sporting a darkish go well with. After being launched by the decide, he wished potential jurors an excellent afternoon. At one level he had what seemed to be a manuscript on his lap. His lawyer, Arthur Aidala, reported it was No person’s Idiot by Harlan Coben.

It’s Weinstein’s third trial in simply over 5 years. In 2020, he was convicted of two felony intercourse crimes in New York. Two years later he was convicted of three counts in California.

Final yr, an appeals courtroom overturned Weinstein’s New York conviction, concluding that the trial decide had improperly allowed the testimony of a number of witnesses who described alleged sexual misconduct that was not charged within the indictment. Weinstein’s 23-year sentence was thereby voided. Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin Bragg mentioned quickly after that his workplace deliberate to retry Weinstein. In September, Bragg introduced an extra grand jury indictment that wasn’t included in earlier instances. 

Within the trial, jurors are anticipated to listen to from two alleged victims who testified in 2020, former actress Jessica Mann and producer Miriam “Mimi” Haley, who beforehand used the final title Haleyi, in addition to an extra accuser, whose existence Bragg revealed final September. That lady says Weinstein compelled her to carry out oral intercourse on him in a resort in 2006.

Lindsay Goldbrum, a lawyer for the Weinstein accuser whose id has not but been made public, mentioned outdoors courtroom on Tuesday that her shopper desires the jury to get to the reality.

“Throughout the trial, there can be lots of pundits, commentators and so-called consultants discussing whether or not or not these acts have been consensual, however what issues right here is the details,” Goldbrum mentioned, “and I am assured {that a} jury will discover that these acts weren’t consensual, and they’ll convict.”

Choose Farber has mentioned jury choice might final 5 days. Weinstein has pleaded not responsible. Whereas awaiting retrial, he has been held at Riker’s Island, except a number of stays at Bellevue Hospital.

Weinstein, 73, has lately undergone remedy for bone marrow most cancers, and final yr obtained emergency coronary heart surgical procedure. At a listening to final week, he used a wheelchair however appeared vigorous and alert, answering questions from Choose Farber, and conferring together with his authorized staff.

Whereas Weinstein fights the New York prices, and has appealed his California conviction, he stays a disgraced determine. Dozens of girls have accused him of misconduct, and he has confronted a raft of civil litigation. Outstanding leisure figures from Asia Argento to Rose McGowan to Ashley Judd have accused him of abusing his energy and affect.

For a few years, Weinstein stood on the intersection of important acclaim and field workplace success. His tasks included Pulp Fiction, Good Will Searching, Shakespeare in Love and The English Affected person. In 2017, two blockbuster tales in The New York Instances and The New Yorker broke open Weinstein’s lengthy historical past of alleged sexual misconduct, each together with the names of a number of accusers who have been keen to go on the document.

That reporting catalyzed the #MeToo motion, and rapidly led to Weinstein’s skilled downfall. Weinstein was fired from The Weinstein Firm, which he co-founded together with his brother, Bob. It then filed for chapter.