Harvey Weinstein‘s latest New York rape trial will see opening statement tomorrow now a jury has finally been chosen.
With the last alternate picked Tuesday after over a week of selection of literally hundreds of people, the much accused Pulp Fiction producer will plead his fate to a panel of seven women and five men as well as five alternates.
Now placed in under guard in hospital, as opposed to the harsh Rikers Island, for the remainder of the nearly two-month long trial, the often ailing 72-year-old Weinstein’s retrial comes from his 23-year sentence from a 2020 rape conviction, which was tossed out in 2024. There is also now one additional count of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree, which was added to the indictment last September.
If found guilty again, under a new judge, Weinstein will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Today, Weinstein’s reps charcterized the selection of a jury and the trial about to begin as a new era for their client.
“It was a rigorous and at times grueling process, but we believe the jury selected is one that can assess the facts with clarity and impartiality,” Juda Engelmayer told Deadline just after the jury was seated. “We are hopeful that this time, the legal process will rise above noise and narrative, and allow Harvey Weinstein the fair trial he’s long been denied. He deserves the chance to clear his name and preserve a legacy that has been overshadowed by deeply flawed and misleading accusations.”
As he has in every one of the dozens and dozens of accusations against him since 2017 and the New York Times expose of his decades of misconduct and alleged assaults, Weinstein has said in this matter that he is innocent, that the interactions were all consensual and he is being stitched up.
In a surprise to many and a sign of the waning #MeToo movement, a 4-3 panel of New York appeals court judges a year ago dismissed the 2020 conviction on the grounds prosecutors had misstepped by allowing the testimony of other Weinstein accusers whose claims were not being tried. Still, the one time mogul stayed incarcerated during the lead up to this trial because of his 2022 conviction in Los Angeles on sex crimes and sentencing to 16 years, which is now also under appeal.
Out in LA, Weinstein had a rare court win of sorts in February when a Jane Doe whose 2013 rape claims against the producer contributed to his L.A. criminal conviction dropped her civil case. Just weeks before the matter was to go to trial on March 24, Doe’s lawyers asked L.A. Superior Court Judge Elaine W. Mandel on February 4 to dismiss the sexual battery, false imprisonment, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress case without prejudice.
