{"id":584378,"date":"2026-04-14T21:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/584378\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T21:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T21:21:09","slug":"harvey-weinstein-is-going-on-trial-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/584378\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvey Weinstein is going on trial again"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 After years of #MeToo infamy<\/a>, legal peril and prison, Harvey Weinstein is again going on trial on a rape charge in New York City.<\/p>\n

Jury selection started Tuesday in the onetime movie mogul\u2019s latest retrial, where jurors will weigh \u2014 for the third time \u2014 whether he raped hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann<\/a> in a Manhattan hotel in 2013.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a more streamlined proceeding than the array of allegations that were aired at Weinstein\u2019s previous trials in New York and Los Angeles. The Oscar-winning producer denies all the accusations and declared in court<\/a> this winter that he had \u201cacted wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n AP AUDIO: Harvey Weinstein is going on trial again in a New York rape case\n <\/p>\n

AP correspondent Julie Walker reports jury selection is slated to start Tuesday in Harvey Weinstein\u2019s rape case retrial.<\/p>\n

Still, the retrial is expected to last up to six weeks. Questioned about the length of the proceeding and whether they could be fair and impartial about the much-publicized case, more than 80 prospective jurors asked to be excused during initial screening Tuesday morning. <\/p>\n

About 60 others remained for further questioning in the afternoon.<\/p>\n

A surprise move from prosecutors <\/p>\n

While Mann\u2019s accusation may be familiar, specifics of the case may differ. In a surprise move before jury selection began Tuesday, prosecutors suggested they might seek to introduce a new piece of evidence \u2014 a remark that Weinstein allegedly made to a court officer six years ago. <\/p>\n

According to Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Candace White, the officer told prosecutors last week that he was on hand for Weinstein\u2019s February 2020 sexual assault conviction<\/a> \u2014 which was later overturned \u2014 and heard Weinstein say: \u201cIf you had seen these girls, you would have done the exact same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Harvey<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Weinstein\u2019s lawyers urged Judge Curtis Farber to keep any mention of the supposed remark out of his upcoming retrial.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis sounds far-fetched,\u201d defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said, adding that \u201cit\u2019s just too late\u201d to introduce it. <\/p>\n

A subject that was explored in prior trials \u2014 a claims fund for women who said Weinstein sexually mistreated them \u2014 likely won\u2019t come up again. The defense team doesn\u2019t intend to raise the subject, Farber said.<\/p>\n

A new defense team<\/p>\n

Agnifilo and his partners took on the case<\/a> in February, when longtime Weinstein lawyer Arthur Aidala stepped aside from the retrial to focus on the former studio boss\u2019 appeals and civil matters. Both Aidala and Agnifilo are well-known New York defense attorneys, but their litigation styles differ. Aidala is folksy, while Agnifilo is more buttoned-up. <\/p>\n

Weinstein wielded significant clout in the entertainment industry, having built his reputation on such critical and popular hits as \u201cShakespeare in Love,\u201d \u201cPulp Fiction\u201d and \u201cChocolat.\u201d He also became a prominent Democratic donor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Then a series of sexual harassment and sex assault allegations against Weinstein began to emerge in news media in 2017, propelling the #MeToo movement.<\/p>\n

He was criminally charged in New York in 2018 and in Los Angeles two years later.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n Sign up for Morning Wire:
\n Our flagship newsletter breaks down the biggest headlines of the day.\n <\/p>\n

A tangled series of trials<\/p>\n

Weinstein went to trial and was convicted of some \u2014 but not all \u2014 counts in both cases. His initial New York convictions were overturned,<\/a> spurring a retrial last year.<\/p>\n

The retrial verdict was mixed: Weinstein was convicted of forcing<\/a> oral sex on production assistant and producer Miriam Haley<\/a> in 2006, but he was acquitted of forcibly performing oral sex on model-turned-psychotherapist Kaja Sokola<\/a>. The jury didn\u2019t decide on the rape charge involving Mann because the foreperson refused to keep deliberating<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Mann has testified that she had a consensual, on-and-off relationship with the then-married Weinstein. But when he cornered her in a Manhattan hotel room where she was staying on a weekend getaway, she protested, \u201cI don\u2019t want to do this,\u201d she told jurors. She said he kept making advances and demands until she \u201cjust gave up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weinstein hasn\u2019t testified at any of his trials, but his lawyers have contended that he never had non-consensual sex. The defense claimed that his accusers willingly entertained his sexual overtures because they wanted his help in show business. <\/p>\n

The women said Weinstein dangled his Hollywood influence to draw them into his orbit and then victimize them.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s appealing the Los Angeles verdict<\/a> and is expected to appeal the New York conviction involving Haley. It carries the potential for up to 25 years<\/a> in prison; no sentencing date has been set.<\/p>\n

In this case, the rape charge is a lower-level felony punishable by up to four years behind bars. Weinstein, 73, already has served longer than that.<\/p>\n

Weinstein has various health problems and uses a wheelchair. He told the judge<\/a> in January that his \u201cmental state is collapsing\u201d in New York\u2019s notorious Rikers Island jail<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press generally does not identify people without their permission if they say they have been sexually assaulted. Haley, Mann and Sokola agreed to be named.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 After years of #MeToo infamy, legal peril and prison, Harvey Weinstein is again going…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[49443,1927,66978,2356,255874,255872,88,793,35083,3073,255870,18320,255873,2221,3031,4227,98223,255871,2005,1999,2818,2226,795],"class_list":{"0":"post-584378","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-metoo","9":"tag-ap-top-news","10":"tag-arthur-l-aidala","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-candace-white","13":"tag-curtis-farber","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-general-news","16":"tag-harvey-weinstein","17":"tag-indictments","18":"tag-jessica-mann","19":"tag-juries","20":"tag-kaja-sokola","21":"tag-legal-proceedings","22":"tag-los-angeles","23":"tag-manhattan","24":"tag-marc-agnifilo","25":"tag-miriam-haley","26":"tag-new-york","27":"tag-new-york-city","28":"tag-sexual-assault","29":"tag-trials","30":"tag-u-s-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}