Prospective jurors in Harvey Weinstein sex assault retrial say they can't judge fairly: ‘He is a really bad guy'
NEW YORK — Jury selection commenced Tuesday at Harvey Weinstein's Manhattan retrial, where dozens of New Yorkers stuck their hands up to say they couldn't sit on the case — several because they couldn't do so with an open mind.
Weinstein, 73, a Hollywood power player before facing sexual assault allegations by more than 80 women, was a familiar face to several Manhattan residents called in for jury duty. Nobody had been seated by 4 p.m.
'I don't like the guy; he is a really bad guy,' Mark Axelowitz, who plays the Manhattan district attorney in the new Robert De Niro movie 'Alto Knights,' said.
A restaurant maître'd, who declined to provide their name, said, 'I don't see how anyone can be impartial.'
Another prospective panelist was seen mouthing 'wow' at the person beside her after learning who the defendant in the case was.
Wearing a navy blue suit and a light blue tie, Weinstein was brought into court shortly after 11 a.m. in a wheelchair, carrying a copy of 'Nobody's Fool' by Harlan Coben. He was back on trial in Manhattan Supreme Court, where he was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in prison in early 2020.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape stemming from allegations by three women, two of whom, former aspiring actress Jessica Mann and former TV production assistant Miriam Haley, testified at his first trial. The identity of the third woman is not public; she has alleged Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006.
New York's Court of Appeals threw out Weinstein's landmark conviction last May after finding that the trial court judge erroneously allowed testimony about sexual assault incidents for which Weinstein was not charged. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg later said his office would retry the case.
In 2022 he was convicted in a separate case in Los Angeles on rape and sexual assault charges and subsequently sentenced to 16 years in prison, which he's set to continue serving regardless of the outcome of his current trial.
Lindsay Goldbrum, an attorney representing the anonymous accuser, said she would go public when she takes the stand.
'As she has told me her experience, and again told the DA her experiences, one thing has been crystal clear: that this was not consensual,' Goldbrum said. 'There will be a lot of pundits, commentators and so-called experts, discussing whether or not these acts were consensual. But what matters here is the facts, and I'm confident that a jury will find that these acts were not consensual and they will convict.'
Weinstein's lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said his client was 'cautiously optimistic.'
'Harvey's been struggling with all kinds of physical ailments, all kinds of health issues. But there's a degree of nervous energy in a positive way to finally have his voice heard and have his day in court under very different circumstances than five years ago,' he said.
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