Harvey Weinstein’s New York Retrial Begins Jury Selection
Jury selection began for Harvey Weinstein’s retrial Tuesday morning in New York City after his landmark #MeToo conviction was overturned last year.
Weinstein, in a wheelchair and carrying a book with the cover torn off, had a brief smile on his face as he approached his legal team in the courtroom.
The first group of prospective jurors — consisting of approximately 70 individuals — was eventually sworn into the courtroom, where Judge Curtis J. Farber announced that he would be presiding over the selection process.
The prospectives were first asked whether they can’t serve due to scheduling conflicts, then whether they would be unable to serve fairly and impartially in a case that, as the judge said, “involves allegations of criminal sex act and rape” and “has been widely reported in the news.” The judge, however, did not mention Weinstein’s name.
A few dozen prospectives signaled they could not serve for one or both reasons, with Judge Farber noting that there was a “smattering of hands” following both questions. However, the majority of the panel then stood and waited in line to disclose their issue with serving as a juror on the case.
At 12 p.m. ET, a second batch of potential jurors — consisting of just under 75 individuals — was summoned into the courtroom. Once again, dozens of prospective jurors raised their hands to signal that they would be unable to serve due to work or personal-related conflicts, and/or they couldn’t be impartial.
The judge also shared with both groups that the trial will most likely end the last week of May, but — as a precaution — said they should expect it to last until the first week of June.
In total, only 49 jurors remained after Farber’s questions.
Judge Farber proceeded to ask the remaining prospective jurors a series of questions, including whether they had any moral, ethical or religious beliefs that would prevent them from serving as a juror, whether they were not U.S. citizens, not residents of New York County, or had previously been convicted of a felony. No hands were raised.
When asked if there were any potential jurors who were not proficient in the English language, two individuals raised their hands and were excused.
During a lunch break, Weinstein’s attorney Arthur Aidala told reporters, “The trial has begun. The judge is vetting the jurors. We’re going to go up there and do the best we can to get a fair and impartial jury and proceed to opening statements maybe as early as tomorrow or Thursday. Nothing exciting or special going on right now, except we’re going to do the best that we can to make sure anyone who’s 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 that they’re going to hear during this apparently two month long trial.”
