New York — Years after #MeToo shameWith legal jeopardy and imprisonment, Harvey Weinstein is once again on trial for rape in New York City.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin early Tuesday in the latest retrial of the movie mogul, where jurors will consider – for the third time – whether he raped a hairdresser and actor. Jessica Mann In a Manhattan hotel in 2013.
But Weinstein’s new lawyer, Mark Agnifilo, told Judge Curtis Farber last month: “But it won’t be a mirror image of the last trial.”
This time, jurors will consider just one charge based on a single accuser, rather than the array of allegations aired in Weinstein’s previous trials in New York and Los Angeles. The Oscar-winning producer denies all accusations Announced in court This winter he “behaved wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone.”
The judge indicated he might reconsider some rulings on exactly what evidence was presented about the years of Weinstein and Mann’s interactions. Weinstein’s recent change in lawyers may change the content and tactics of the trial.
Agnifilo and Associates He took the case It was only in February, when Weinstein’s longtime lawyer, Arthur Aidala, recused himself from the retrial to focus on the former studio head’s appeals and civil matters. Aidala and Agnifilo are both well-known defense attorneys in New York, but their litigation styles differ. Aidala is a popular person, while Agnfilo is more closed off.
Weinstein was highly influential in the entertainment industry, having built his reputation on critical and popular successes such as “Shakespeare in Love,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “Chocolate.” He also became a A prominent Democratic donor.
Then a series of sexual harassment and assault allegations against Weinstein began to appear in the news media in 2017, prompting the #MeToo movement.
He was criminally charged in New York in 2018 and in Los Angeles two years later.
Weinstein went to trial and was found guilty of some — but not all — charges in both cases. His initial convictions are in New York was turned over, Which prompted a retrial last year.
The retrial ruling was mixed: Weinstein’s was Convicted by force Oral sex on production assistant and producer Miriam Haley in 2006, but was acquitted of forcible oral sex that same year with the model-turned-psychotherapist. Kaja Sokola. The jury did not decide on the rape charge involving Mann because The presenter refused to continue deliberations.
Weinstein after that It is considered an admission of guiltaccording to Aidala. Apparently, Weinstein ultimately rejected the idea.
Mann testified that she had an on-off, consensual relationship with Weinstein, who was married at the time. But when he cornered her in a Manhattan hotel room where she was staying for the weekend, she protested, telling jurors: “I don’t want to do this.” She said he kept making advances and demands until she “just gave in.”
Weinstein did not testify at any of his trials, but his lawyers have maintained that he never had non-consensual sex.
The defense claimed that Mann and his co-defendants willingly enjoyed his sexual overtures because they wanted to help him realize their show business aspirations. By contrast, the women said Weinstein leveraged his influence in Hollywood to lure them into his orbit and then harm them.
His conviction for sexually assaulting Healy stands Potential for up to 25 years in prison; No sentencing date has been set. In this case, the pending rape charge is a lower-level felony punishable by up to four years in prison. Weinstein, 73, has already been there longer than that.
Weinstein suffers from various health problems and uses a wheelchair. he He said in court Last January, he was haunted by the possibility of his death in the notorious New York City Rikers Island Prison.
He told the judge: “My mental state is collapsing… my spirit is breaking.”
Weinstein’s lawyers say his conviction in New York last year was poisoned by bad blood among the jurors. Meanwhile, he is resuming Los Angeles rule.
The Associated Press generally does not identify people without their permission if they say they have been sexually assaulted. Healey, Mann, and Sokola agreed to reveal their names.