Sawt Falasteen - Prosecutors to make case against Harvey Weinstein at retrial

Weinstein's retrial began last week, forcing survivors who helped spark the "#MeToo" movement against sexual violence to prepare to testify against him once more.

His 2020 conviction was overturned last year by the New York Court of Appeals, which ruled that the way witnesses were handled in the original New York trial was unlawful.

Judge Curtis Farber said he expected presentation of evidence to last five to six weeks.

"I am hopeful the trial will be over by the end of May," he said.

Jury selection took just over a week and was concluded after many members of the jury pool indicated they could not give Weinstein a fair trial because of what they knew of the highly publicized case.

Those prospectives were excused, and a full jury of 12 panelists and six alternates was seated Tuesday with seven women and five men picked -- more women than found him guilty at his first trial.

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 accounts of their interactions with Weinstein.

- 'Fresh eyes' -

Weinstein, 73, has 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 actress a decade prior.

The producer of a string of box office hits such as "Sex, Lies and Videotape," "Pulp Fiction" and "Shakespeare in Love," Weinstein has battled health issues.

"It'll be very, very different because of the attitude of New York City, New York state and, I think, the overall country," his lawyer Arthur Aidala said ahead of jury selection.

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 actresses 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 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 Weinstein was not indicted.

K.AbuTaha--SF-PST