Jury hears opening arguments in Weinstein retrial

Harvey Weinstein's retrial on rape and sexual assault charges has begun with opening arguments before a Manhattan jury, a year after New York's highest state appeals court overturned the disgraced film producer's conviction.

Weinstein, 73, faces one rape count and two criminal sexual act counts. The Miramax studio co-founder, who was once one of Hollywood's most influential producers, has pleaded not guilty and denied ever assaulting anyone or having non-consensual sex.

Weinstein's trial conviction was a capstone moment for the #MeToo movement, which encouraged women to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by powerful men in media, politics, and other spheres.

The new trial before Supreme Court justice Curtis Farber is expected to last roughly six weeks. All 12 jurors must vote unanimously to convict Weinstein.

On Wednesday, prosecutor Shannon Lucey told jurors that the Oscar-winning producer exploited his status as a Hollywood gatekeeper and power broker to sexually abuse women, then assured their silence by holding their careers hostage.

Weinstein's lawyer Arthur Aidala rejected that characterisation and claimed the producer had "mutually beneficial" relationships with his accusers, who ended up with auditions and other showbusiness opportunities.

Weinstein dressed in a dark suit and navy tie, listened after being brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair.

A jury found Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault in 2020, and he was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

A state appeals court threw out the conviction in April 2024 and ordered a new trial, finding that women who accused Weinstein of assaults that were not part of the charges against him should not have been allowed to testify.

Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office have accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and raping aspiring actor Jessica Mann in 2013, charges he was convicted of in the first trial.

For the retrial, prosecutors have added a new charge that Weinstein assaulted another woman in Manhattan in 2006. Prosecutor Lucey said that woman is Kaja Sokola, who alleges Weinstein assaulted her when she was a 16-year-old aspiring actor.

Weinstein is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison even if he is acquitted in the retrial in New York because he was sentenced to 16 years after being separately convicted of rape in California.

He has yet to begin serving that sentence and has remained in custody in New York since his conviction there was overturned.

In September, Weinstein was rushed to a hospital and underwent emergency heart surgery. The episode was one of several health scares while he was held in New York City's Rikers Island jail, where his representatives have said he was receiving inadequate medical care.

Citing his health, Weinstein's lawyers are seeking a court order to let him stay overnight at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for the duration of the trial.

More than 100 women, including famous actresses, accused Weinstein of misconduct, and the allegations against him were a focal point of #MeToo. He denied the allegations and said any sexual encounters he had were consensual.

Weinstein's film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018, collapsing after the original accusations of sexual misconduct.

Source: Reuters