NEW YORK — Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s retrial on rape and sex assault charges started Tuesday, forcing survivors who helped fire up the “#MeToo” movement to prepare to testify against him once more.
Weinstein’s 2020 conviction by a jury was overturned seven years later by an appeals court that ruled the way witnesses were handled in the original New York trial was unlawful.
The voiding of the jury’s verdict by the New York Court of Appeals was a setback to survivors of the #MeToo movement against sexual violence and the promotion of justice for survivors.
Weinstein was wheeled in to court, and wore a dark blue suit and adjusted his tie as he took his seat at the defense table while the trial lawyers spoke to the judge.
The onetime Miramax studio boss was charged with the sexual assault of former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006, the rape of aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013, and a new count for an alleged sexual assault in 2006 at a hotel in Manhattan.
Haleyi and Mann testified in the earlier trial, sharing graphic testimony of their interactions with Weinstein.
Lindsay Goldbrum, a lawyer for the unnamed woman who brought the new complaint, told reporters outside court that “she had the honour of representing an incredible woman”.
“They are going to ensure Weinstein is held accountable for his heinous crimes against women,” she said.
“The fact they are going to testify again is testimony to their bravery.”
Jury selection in the new trial, which overall is expected to last up to six weeks in a Manhattan criminal court, began on Tuesday and could take until next week.
Weinstein, 73, said he hopes the case will be judged with “fresh eyes”, more than seven years after investigations by The New York Times and the New Yorker led to his spectacular downfall and a global backlash against predatory abusers.
Weinstein is serving a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted on separate charges in California in 2023 for raping and assaulting a European actor a decade prior.
‘Fry Harvey’?
The producer of a string of box office hits like “Sex, Lies and Videotape”, “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love”, Weinstein has appeared frail and gaunt at recent courtroom hearings ahead of the trial.
“It’ll be very, very different because of the attitude of New York City, New York state and, I think, the overall country,” said his lawyer Arthur Aidala.
“Five years ago, when you guys were here, there were protests. There were people chanting: ‘Fry Harvey, he’s a rapist’… I think that, overall, has died down,” he said, adding that he hoped jurors would try the case on its merits.
Aidala separately told Fox 5 Monday that Weinstein had several ailments, including a “horrible infection in his mouth, his throat — and he’s struggling to speak, and when you’re about to go on trial you need to communicate with your lawyer”.
Weinstein has never acknowledged any wrongdoing and has always maintained that the encounters were consensual.
Accusers describe the movie mogul as a predator who used his perch atop the cinema industry to pressure talent and assistants for sexual favors, often in hotel rooms.
Since his downfall, Weinstein has been accused of harassment, sexual assault or rape by more than 80 women, including actors Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lupita Nyong’o and Ashley Judd.
In 2020, a jury of New Yorkers found Weinstein guilty of two out of five charges — the sexual assault of Haleyi and the rape of Mann.
But the conviction and the 23-year prison sentence were overturned in April 2024.
In a hotly debated four-to-three decision, New York’s appeals court ruled that jurors should not have heard testimonies of victims about sexual assaults for which Harvey Weinstein was not indicted.
The three survivors of Weinstein’s alleged crimes are expected to testify once again.
“I’m going on jury duty — I hope I don’t get that [trial],” said a woman smoking a cigarette outside the courthouse.
