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Jury selection began for Harvey Weinstein’s retrial on late Tuesday morning in New York City after his landmark #MeToo conviction was overturned last year.
Weinstein, in a wheelchair and carrying a book with the cover torn off, had a brief smile on his face as he approached his legal team in the courtroom.
The first group of prospective jurors — consisting of approximately 70 individuals — was eventually sworn into the courtroom, where Judge Curtis J. Farber announced that he would be presiding over the selection process.
The prospectives were first asked whether they can’t serve due to scheduling conflicts, then whether they would be unable to serve fairly and impartially in a case that, as the judge said, “involves allegations of criminal sex act and rape” and “has been widely reported in the news.” The judge, however, did not mention Weinstein’s name.
A few dozen prospectives signaled they could not serve for one or both reasons, with Judge Farber noting that there was a “smattering of hands” following both questions. However, the majority of the panel then stood and waited in line to disclose their issue with serving as a juror on the case.
At around 12 p.m. ET, a second batch of potential jurors — consisting of just under 75 individuals — was summoned into the courtroom. Once again, dozens of prospective jurors raised their hands to signal that they would be unable to serve due to work or personal-related conflicts, and/or they couldn’t be impartial. Approximately 25 people from the second group remained after Farber’s questions.
The judge shared with both groups that the trial will most likely end the last week of May, but — as a precaution — said they should expect it to last until the first week of June.
Weinstein was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in 2024 and has been imprisoned on Rikers Island while awaiting the retrial. In October of that year, a Manhattan judge ruled that Weinstein’s multiple sex crimes charges would be consolidated ahead of his 2025 retrial.
Due to his cancer diagnosis, the disgraced movie mogul claimed he “won’t be there” for the April 15 trial and requested Judge Farber move the date up, even a week earlier to April 7. Weinstein has been treated at Bellevue Hospital for the cancer, in addition to leukemia, diabetes, coronary artery disease and sleep apnea. In September, he underwent emergency heart surgery.
Earlier last year, in April, the New York Court of Appeals overturned Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction. The appeals court ruled that Weinstein’s original trial committed an error by including testimonies from three additional accusers when they should not have been permitted. These testimonies were deemed prejudicial, as they did not provide relevant insight into the charges he faced. As a result, the appeals court vacated the conviction and ordered a retrial.
In September, Weinstein was indicted on an additional sex crimes charge after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a Manhattan hotel on one occasion between April 29, 2006, and May 6, 2006. He pled not guilty to the charge.
More to come…
