Harvey Weinstein’s New York Retrial Begins With Opening Statements; New Accuser Identified

One year after Harvey Weinstein‘s landmark #MeToo conviction in New York was overturned, the former Hollywood producer is once again facing a jury, as his retrial began Wednesday morning in Manhattan criminal court.

Weinstein is charged with two counts of committing a “criminal sexual act” in the first degree and one count of third-degree rape, following accusations by three women. One of the accusers, Kaja Sokola — previously referred to as Complaining Witness No. 3 — did not testify during his 2020 trial. In September of last year, Weinstein was indicted on an additional sex crimes charge after the then-unidentified Sokola accused Weinstein of performing oral sex on her in a Manhattan hotel on one occasion between April 29, 2006, and May 6, 2006.

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The disgraced movie mogul had been found guilty of sexually abusing the other two accusers — Jessica Mann and former TV production assistant Miriam Haley — but those convictions were later overturned. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all charges in his retrial.

Assistant District Attorney Shannon Lucey began the prosecution’s opening statement by quoting alleged remarks said by Weinstein, including “I make, I break careers.” Lucey also told the jury that Weinstein used “dream opportunities as weapons” against these women to take advantage of them.

The assistant D.A. then shared the stories of Weinstein’s three accusers, beginning with Haley’s, and what the jury can expect to hear from their testimonies. Lucey discussed two encounters Sokola had with Weinstein — one in 2002 when she was 16, and another in 2006, which is the incident Weinstein is currently being charged for. Sokola previously filed a civil complaint in 2019 against Weinstein related to the 2002 incident, where she claimed that the former producer bullied her into allowing him to fondle her and made her touch his penis. That allegation was first filed in 2018, when she was part of a class-action lawsuit and identified as Jane Doe. Although the class action plaintiffs agreed to settle their suit against Weinstein, Sokola said in a statement at the time that the terms were unjust.

Lucey recounted that, after the 2002 incident in a Manhattan hotel, Sokola continued to reach out to Weinstein for career opportunities and, in 2006, he cast her as an extra in “The Nanny Diaries,” where she met Scarlett Johansson and Alicia Keys. She met with Weinstein again at the same Manhattan hotel that year — this time accompanied by her sister. Weinstein mentioned he had scripts upstairs, and Sokola went up the elevator with him alone. She once again found herself alone in a hotel room with him. According to Lucey, Sokola struggled with “self-judgment” in that moment and asked herself, “How am I here again?”

After a brief recess, Weinstein’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, delivered the defense’s opening statement. He told the jury that, in the case of the three women, “the casting couch is not a crime scene,” arguing that the sexual encounters were consensual. Aidala also described the relationships between Weinstein and Haley, Sokola and Mann as “long-term” and “mutually beneficial.”

“Folks, after you hear all the evidence, their case is going to fall flat on its face,” Aidala said. “They’re going to ask you to make sense of things that just don’t make sense.”

Following opening arguments, Lindsay Goldbrum, attorney for Sokola, made a statement on the courthouse steps.

“As I’ve said before, her story is not mine to tell, but she’s ready to tell it, and she’s going to tell it on the witness stand when it’s her time to testify,” Goldbrum said of her client. “Weinstein’s attorneys opened with a statement that was full of victim blaming and rape myths. If it were not for the hundred-plus women who came forward with allegations against Weinstein, we may never have seen a #MeToo movement, certainly not to the magnitude that we did. Kaja is coming forward in this trial because it’s the right thing to do. Kaja is seeking justice not only for herself, but for the other women that were harmed by Harvey Weinstein. Ultimately, this trial is about an incredibly powerful man who used and wielded that power to take advantage of women.”

The jury, consisting of a panel of seven women and five men, will decide the outcome of the New York retrial. Judge Curtis J. Farber expects the retrial to conclude by the end of May or first week of June.

Weinstein was serving a 23-year sentence in New York after being convicted of sexual assault and rape in his 2020 criminal trial.

In April 2024, the New York Court of Appeals overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction, ruling 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 Weinstein faced. The appeals court ultimately vacated the conviction and ordered a retrial.

Weinstein was also convicted of rape in Los Angeles in 2022 and sentenced to an additional 16 years in prison.