Harvey Weinstein is back on trial for sex crimes in New York. On Tuesday, jury selection began for the 73-year-old’s fresh trial, in which the disgra
Harvey Weinstein is back on trial for sex crimes in New York. On Tuesday, jury selection began for the 73-year-old’s fresh trial, in which the disgraced film mogul and face of the #MeToo movement is accused of sexually assaulting three different women.
In 2020, Weinstein was convicted of two felony sex crimes in New York: rape and criminal sexual act. (He was acquitted by the jury on three other charges, including accusations that he was a sexual predator.) Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the two felony convictions. In 2022, he was found guilty of three counts in Los Angeles and sentenced to serve 16 years in prison after completing his 23-year New York sentence, all but assuring that Weinstein would spend the rest of his life in prison.
However, that potentially changed last April when the New York Court of Appeals overturned Weinstein’s conviction in a 4-3 ruling, deciding that Weinstein had been subject to “egregious errors” during his first trial due to the judge permitting testimony from several witnesses who described alleged sexual misconduct committed by Weinstein that was not charged in the indictment. After the verdict, Weinstein’s 23-year New York conviction was voided and a fresh sexual assault trial was tentatively scheduled to begin in November of last year.
After a delay, that trial begins today. “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time,” said Weinstein in a statement on Monday, reported by The New York Times. “Tomorrow, I walk into court a free man in New York—and I expect to walk out the same way.”
In the fresh trial, jurors are expected to hear testimony from the two alleged victims who testified in 2020, former actress Jessica Mann and producer Miriam “Mimi” Haley. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg—who declared his intention to retry Weinstein soon after his conviction was overturned—announced a fresh accuser and an additional grand jury indictment for this latest trial. The fresh accuser alleges that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in a hotel in 2006. According to The New York Times, prosecutors say that they have known about the fresh accuser since 2020, but that she only recently agreed to come forward.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and accusations of nonconsensual sex, and has long denied all the allegations against him. He has also appealed his California conviction.
Before his multiple convictions, Weinstein was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood—the super producer behind Oscar-winning films like Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, and The English Patient. At the dawn of the #MeToo movement in 2017, his empire began to crumble as multiple actresses, including Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, accused him of sexual harassment.
Since his convictions, Weinstein has been held on Rikers Island, with the exception of multiple stays at Bellevue Hospital. The 73-year-old’s health has been in decline for years, and he was hospitalized in September for emergency heart surgery. He was later diagnosed with a form of bone marrow cancer.
Despite his ailing health and status as a convicted felon, Weinstein is still making headlines. He recently spoke out about the legal battle between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. In a statement issued to Vanity Fair via a representative, Weinstein clarified that he was not choosing sides. “Please note that Harvey is not taking sides in the Baldoni–Lively matter. He is not familiar with the details and has only ever had the kindest, warmest interactions with both Blake and Ryan [Reynolds].”
Judge Curtis Farber presides over Weinstein’s retrial and has said that the jury selection process could take up to five days.
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