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Once again, Harvey Weinstein goes on trial for sex crimes in New York today
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Former film producer Harvey Weinstein is on trial for sex crimes, again. Jury selection begins on Tuesday in a lower Manhattan courtroom, where Weinstein, once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood, must answer charges that he sexually assaulted three different women.
It is Weinstein's third trial in just over five years. In 2020, he was convicted of two felony sex crimes in New York. Two years later he was convicted of three counts in California.
Last year, an appeals court overturned Weinstein's New York conviction, concluding that the trial judge had improperly allowed the testimony of several witnesses who described alleged sexual misconduct that was not charged in the indictment. Weinstein's 23-year sentence was thereby voided. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said soon after that his office planned to retry Weinstein. In September, Bragg announced an additional grand jury indictment that wasn't included in previous cases.
In the trial that begins this week, jurors are expected to hear from two alleged victims who testified in 2020, former actress Jessica Mann and producer Miriam "Mimi" Haley, who previously used the last name Haleyi, as well as an additional accuser, whose existence Bragg revealed last September. That woman says Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him in a hotel in 2006.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty. While awaiting retrial, he has been held at Riker's Island, with the exception of multiple stays at Bellevue Hospital.
Weinstein, 73, has recently undergone treatment for bone marrow cancer, and last year received emergency heart surgery. At a hearing last week, he used a wheelchair but appeared lively and alert, answering questions from Judge Farber, and conferring with his legal team.
Judge Curtis Farber has said jury selection in this trial could last five days. He said he plans to ask prospective jurors if they're aware of the allegations against Weinstein, and if they can set aside their prior impressions to fairly decide the case based on the evidence.
While Weinstein fights the New York charges, and has appealed his California conviction, he remains a disgraced figure. Dozens of women have accused him of misconduct, and he has faced a raft of civil litigation. Prominent entertainment figures from Asia Argento to Rose McGowan to Ashley Judd have accused him of abusing his power and influence.
For many years, Weinstein stood at the intersection of critical acclaim and box office success. His projects included Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Shakespeare in Love and The English Patient. In 2017, two blockbuster stories in The New York Times and The New Yorker broke open Weinstein's long history of alleged sexual misconduct, each one including the names of multiple accusers who were willing to go on the record.
That reporting catalyzed the #MeToo movement, and quickly led to Weinstein's professional downfall. Weinstein was fired from The Weinstein Company, which he co-founded with his brother, Bob. It then filed for bankruptcy.
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