Harvey Weinstein retrial starts in New York. Here's what to know after his conviction was overturned.
Harvey Weinstein's retrial started Tuesday with jury selection in New York City. The 73-year-old has been in jail at Rikers Island since his rape conviction was overturned last year.
The disgraced Hollywood mogul is now being retried on two allegations from 2013 and 2006, along with new charges from a third accuser.
An attorney for that woman, who has not yet been identified, spoke before court began.
"This was not consensual. This was sexual assault with force. Her story is not mine to tell, but she will tell it on the witness stand when the time comes," attorney Lindsay Goldbrum said.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and maintains all sexual encounters were consensual.
"We're going to do the best we can to make sure than anyone who is going to sit on the jury does not have any preconceived notions or predisposed ideas of what a verdict should be, and that they only base their verdict on the evidence they're going to hear," Weinstein's attorney Arthur Aidala said.
What happened in court Tuesday
Weinstein appeared in court before jury selection began wearing a blue suit and blue tie and carrying a book, as he has for most of his hearings.
Prospective jurors were asked whether widespread news coverage about the case and the nature of the allegations - criminal sex act and rape - meant that they could not be fair and impartial. They were also asked about scheduling concerns. Many were dismissed.
"I don't see how anyone can be impartial," one person who was dismissed from the jury pool told reporters afterward.
When the second panel of prospective jurors was sworn in and the name of the case was read aloud, a surprised woman in the back row dropped her mouth open for a few seconds and whispered "wow."
Sitting behind the defense table in court was a jury consultant who has worked with attorneys for defendant liks O.J. Simpson and, most recently, Daniel Penny.
What did Weinstein do? These are the charges at trial
Weinstein is accused of raping an aspiring actor in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performing a criminal sex act by forcing oral sex on a production assistant in 2006.
He is also charged with one count of a criminal sex act based on an allegation from another woman who was not a part of the original trial. That woman, who has not been named publicly, alleges Weinstein forced oral sex on her at a Manhattan hotel in 2006.
At his first trial, Weinstein faced testimony from six women — three whose allegations formed the basis of the charges, and three more to lend credibility and establish a pattern of misconduct.
Last April, the New York Court of Appeals ruled the additional witnesses biased the case, and his 2020 conviction was overturned.
This time, prosecutors will only be calling three accusers to the stand.
Where is Weinstein now?
Weinstein has been in city custody at Rikers Island for nearly a year and has repeatedly complained about the conditions.
At a court hearing earlier this year, he begged the judge to speed up his trial, saying he wanted "get out of this hellhole as quickly as possible." His attorney says he has cancer and a number of other health issues.
"Every day I'm at Rikers, it's a mystery to me how I'm still walking," Weinstein said in January. "I'm holding on because I want justice for myself and I want this to be over with."
The retrial is expected to last five to six weeks. The judge set aside at least four days for jury selection, with opening statements expected to begin next week.
The judge, prosecution and defense will now work to whittle a massive pool of potential jurors down to 18 people — 12 jurors and six alternates.
Even if Weinstein is acquitted, he would not walk free. He is still serving a 16-year-old prison sentence for a 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles – which he is also appealing.
Weinstein and the #MeToo movement
Weinstein's initial conviction was a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement. Five years later, his retrial in the same Manhattan courtroom will be a major test for the enduring power of the movement that ushered in a wave of sexual misconduct claims in Hollywood and beyond.
Aidala says he is looking forward to a fairer trial in a different climate than the first, which drew intense media attention and protesters chanting "rapist" outside the courthouse.
