Jury selection to begin in Harvey Weinstein’s retrial

The last time a New York City jury sat in judgment of Harvey Weinstein, the ex-movie studio boss was convicted of rape and sentenced to 23 years in prison.

Five years later, that landmark #MeToo verdict is gone – wiped away on appeal – and Weinstein is set to go on trial again, beginning today with jury selection.

New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, overturned Weinstein’s conviction and ordered a new trial, finding that his original one in 2020 was tainted by improper rulings and prejudicial testimony. That ruling gave Weinstein a second chance to fight the charges, and do so in a different atmosphere than his first trial, which was held in the middle of a global reckoning over sexual misconduct.

Weinstein, 73, who has pleaded not guilty and denies that he raped or sexually assaulted anyone, is older and more frail, in and out of the hospital regularly for a variety of health problems. He’s now far removed from the time when he was among the most powerful men in the movie business.

In the New York retrial, Judge Curtis Farber has set aside at least four days for jury selection and expects opening statements and the start of testimony next week.

The judge, prosecution and defense will work to whittle a massive pool of potential jurors down to the 18 people – 12 jurors and six alternates – needed for the trial by asking questions and seeking to eliminate anyone they feel can’t judge the case fairly.

Weinstein is being retried on two charges from his original trial. He is accused of raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performing a criminal sex act by forcing oral sex on a movie and TV production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006.

He is also charged with one count of criminal sex act based on an allegation from a woman who was not a part of the original trial. That woman, who has not been named publicly, alleges Weinstein forced oral sex on her at a Manhattan hotel. 

Even if the retrial ends in not guilty verdicts, Weinstein will remain behind bars at Rikers Island, as he was sentenced for a second time in February 2023 after being convicted of raping an actress in a Los Angeles hotel room in 2013.

He was also found guilty of forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by a foreign object in relation to the same woman, named only in court as Jane Doe 1.

Weinstein is also appealing the Los Angeles rape conviction. His 16-year prison sentence in that case still stands, though his lawyers said he needs to be resentenced because the since-vacated New York conviction was a factor in how his punishment was calculated.