Latest news with #JackQueen
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jury to start deliberating in Harvey Weinstein rape retrial
By Jack Queen and Jody Godoy NEW YORK (Reuters) -Jurors in Harvey Weinstein's rape and sexual assault retrial will begin deliberating on Thursday in a Manhattan court, weighing the credibility of the former movie mogul's three accusers against the defense's efforts to brand them liars. The Academy Award-winning producer and Miramax studio co-founder is accused of raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and assaulting two other women in 2006 and 2002. Weinstein, who has denied ever having non-consensual sex or assaulting anyone, has pleaded not guilty. The trial began in April. Weinstein, 73, is on trial for a second time after a New York state appeals court threw out his conviction in April 2024. He faces up to 25 years in prison for two counts of criminal sexual acts and up to four years for one count of rape. He is already serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty in December 2022 of rape in California. Two days of closing arguments wrapped up on Wednesday, and state Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber will instruct the 12 jurors on the law before handing them the case. Prosecutors with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have portrayed Weinstein as a serial predator who promised career advancement in Hollywood to women, only to then coax them into private settings where he attacked them. 'He held the golden ticket, the chance to make it or not. He made each of these women feel small, no match for the power broker of Hollywood,' prosecutor Nicole Blumberg told jurors on Wednesday. Weinstein's defense lawyers have said his encounters with the women were consensual and accused them of lying about being raped after failing to make it big in Hollywood by sleeping with him. "They are lying about what happened. Not about everything, but about a small slice - just enough to turn their regret, their buyers' remorse, into criminality," defense lawyer Arthur Aidala told jurors Tuesday. Weinstein was convicted of rape by a Manhattan jury in February 2020, but the New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction and ordered a new trial, citing errors by the trial judge. Weinstein had been serving a 23-year sentence in a prison in upstate Rome, New York, when the conviction was overturned. That conviction was a milestone for the #MeToo movement, which encouraged women to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by powerful men. Weinstein has been held at New York City's Rikers Island jail since his conviction was overturned. He has had several health scares while being held at Rikers, and in September was rushed to a hospital for emergency heart surgery. More than 100 women, including famous actresses, have accused Weinstein of misconduct. He has denied assaulting anyone or having non-consensual sex. Miramax studio produced many hit movies in its heyday, including "Shakespeare in Love" and "Pulp Fiction." Weinstein's own eponymous film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018, five months after the original sexual misconduct accusations became widely publicized.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Harvey Weinstein's sexual assault trial to conclude with closing arguments
By Jack Queen NEW YORK (Reuters) -Harvey Weinstein's rape and sexual assault trial is set to wrap up with closing arguments to the jury by prosecutors and defense lawyers on Tuesday in Manhattan, a year after a state appeals court overturned the former movie mogul's 2020 conviction. Weinstein, 73, is accused of raping an actress and assaulting two women in what prosecutors have called a pattern in which the onetime Hollywood kingmaker used his power and influence to lure in victims and then keep them silent. The Miramax studio co-founder has pleaded not guilty and has denied ever having non-consensual sex with anyone. Weinstein, suffering from a litany of health problems, was present throughout the trial in a wheelchair. Weinstein already will likely spend the rest of his life in prison due to a 16-year prison sentence for rape in California. Weinstein was convicted of rape by a jury in a previous trial in Manhattan in February 2020, but the New York Court of Appeals in April 2024 threw out the conviction and ordered a new trial, citing errors by the trial judge. Weinstein had been serving a 23-year sentence in a prison in upstate Rome, New York, when the conviction was overturned. That conviction had been a milestone for the #MeToo movement, which encouraged women to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by powerful men. Weinstein has been held at New York City's Rikers Island jail since his conviction was overturned. He has had several health scares while being held at Rikers, and in September was rushed to a hospital for emergency heart surgery. Prosecutors with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have portrayed Weinstein as a serial predator who promised career advancement in Hollywood to women, only to then coax them into private settings where he attacked them. Weinstein's lawyer Arthur Aidala rejected that characterization during his opening statement to the jury, saying the Oscar-winning producer had "mutually beneficial" relationships with his accusers, who ended up with auditions and other show business opportunities. Bragg's office originally accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013, charges he was convicted of in the first trial. For the retrial, prosecutors added a new charge that Weinstein assaulted another woman in Manhattan in 2002. The woman, Kaja Sokola of Poland, testified that Weinstein assaulted her in a Manhattan hotel room. More than 100 women, including famous actresses, have accused Weinstein of misconduct. He has denied assaulting anyone or having non-consensual sex. Miramax studio produced many hit movies in its heyday, including "Shakespeare in Love" and "Pulp Fiction." Weinstein's own eponymous film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018, five months after the original sexual misconduct accusations became widely publicized.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump administration sued over Chinese import tariffs
By Jack Queen (Reuters) - New Civil Liberties Alliance, a conservative legal group, on Thursday filed what it said was the first lawsuit seeking to block Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese imports, saying the U.S. president overstepped his authority. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, alleges that Trump lacked the legal authority to impose the sweeping April 2 tariffs as well as duties authorized on February 1 under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. White House representatives did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. 'By invoking emergency power to impose an across-the-board tariff on imports from China that the statute does not authorize, President Trump has misused that power, usurped Congress's right to control tariffs, and upset the Constitution's separation of powers," NCLA senior litigation counsel Andrew Morris said in a statement. The lawsuit asks a judge to block implementation and enforcement of the tariffs and undo Trump's changes to the U.S. tariff schedule.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
US judge blocks $11 billion Trump administration health funding cut for now
By Jack Queen (Reuters) -A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's administration from cutting more than $11 billion in public health grants allocated to U.S. states during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy in Rhode Island bars the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and its agencies from implementing the cuts while the litigation plays out. The grant funding was used by states to track, prevent and control infectious diseases, including measles and bird flu, as well as track mental health services and fund addiction treatment. Judge McElroy ruled from the bench after an hourlong hearing and said she would follow up with a written order to include further details. The case was filed by Democratic attorneys general of Colorado, Rhode Island, New York and 19 other states and the District of Columbia. The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. New York Attorney General Letitia James said Trump's cuts were illegal and impacted vital state health funding in a social media post following the ruling. The states said in their April 1 complaint that the Trump administration lacked authority to unilaterally claw back funding the states had already built health programs around. 'Despite the critical importance of these programs, HHS terminated them with the stroke of a pen and for the flimsiest of reasons,' the states said, adding that the cuts caused 'immediate chaos and irreparable harm' to their local health authorities. The slash in funding was the latest wave of cuts to be overseen by new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The department said the funds were largely used for COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and other responses to the pandemic in announcing the termination of the grants. "The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago," the department said at the time. The funding included money from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for pandemic preparedness, overdose prevention and community health programs, and from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for addiction treatment and suicide prevention.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Explainer-Can Donald Trump serve a third term as US president?
By Jack Queen and Luc Cohen (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was not joking about seeking a third term but did not explain how he would get around the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against anyone serving more than two terms as president. Here is a look at the legal barriers Trump faces. WHAT DOES THE CONSTITUTION SAY? The 22nd Amendment states in part: 'No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.' The amendment was ratified in 1951 after President Franklin D. Roosevelt broke with a self-imposed two-term limit set by presidents since George Washington, the nation's first. Roosevelt, a Democrat who was president during the Great Depression and World War Two, served a third term and then died months into his fourth term in 1945. CAN TRUMP'S ALLIES CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION? Yes, but that is highly unlikely in an era of intense political polarization between Democrats and Trump's Republican Party. Any constitutional amendment would require two-thirds support in the House and Senate or a convention called by two-thirds of the states, and then ratification by 38 of the 50 state legislatures. Republicans hold a razor-thin 218-213 majority in the House and a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Republicans control 28 state legislatures. Andy Ogles, a Republican U.S. representative from Tennessee and a strong Trump supporter, in January proposed amending the 22nd Amendment to allow people to serve three non-consecutive terms as president. Since Trump's terms beginning in 2017 and in 2025 were non-consecutive, the amendment if passed would allow him to serve a third term starting in 2029. COULD TRUMP RUN AS VICE PRESIDENT? In an interview with NBC, Trump said one possibility would be for his vice president, J.D. Vance, to run for president in 2028 with Trump as his vice presidential candidate. Vance would then resign as president if he wins, paving the way for Trump to return to the White House. But Trump is barred from running for vice president because he is not eligible to be president. The 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads, "No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."
