Jury selection began Tuesday in Manhattan for Harvey Weinstein’s latest retrial on a rape charge connected to allegations by Jessica Mann that Weinstein assaulted her in 2013, according to the Associated Press. Weinstein, the onetime movie mogul, is again facing jurors who will weigh the allegation for the third time, and court is set to continue with prospective jurors questioned individually in private on Wednesday.
The proceedings are expected to be “more streamlined” than the earlier New York and Los Angeles trials, which aired a wider set of allegations, the AP reported. Weinstein denies the accusations. In court this winter, Weinstein declared, “acted wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone,” the AP said.
On the first day of screening, the court fielded extensive requests to be excused. The Associated Press reported that more than 80 prospective jurors asked to step aside during the initial screening process, and the day ended without any jurors chosen.
Prosecutors also previewed a new evidentiary development before jury selection. According to the AP, Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Candace White said prosecutors had a “new piece of evidence” involving a remark Weinstein allegedly made to a court officer six years earlier. The AP reported that White said the officer told prosecutors last week that he was present during Weinstein’s February 2020 sexual assault conviction, which was later overturned, and heard Weinstein say, “If you had seen these girls, you would have done the exact same thing.”
Weinstein’s lawyers urged Judge Curtis Farber to exclude any mention of the alleged remark from the retrial, the AP reported. Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo called the claim “far-fetched,” and also argued that it emerged too late, according to the Associated Press.
Court officials also signaled that a topic discussed in prior trials likely will not return. The AP reported that a claims fund for women who said Weinstein sexually mistreated them is expected not to come up again. The AP said Farber indicated the defense team does not intend to raise the subject.
In February, Weinstein’s legal team received a change in personnel for the case, the AP reported. Agnifilo and his partners took over the defense role in February after long-time Weinstein lawyer Arthur Aidala stepped aside from the retrial to focus on Weinstein’s appeals and civil matters, the AP said. The AP reported that Aidala and Agnifilo are both well-known New York defense attorneys but have different litigation styles, describing Aidala as “folksy” and Agnifilo as more “buttoned-up.”
The retrial is expected to last up to six weeks, and the court is scheduled to resume Wednesday. Prosecutors and defense will continue working through the jury-selection process, with individual questioning of prospective jurors in private planned to begin, the AP said.