Opening statements in Harvey Weinstein’s third Manhattan sex crimes trial begin


Maybe third time’s the charm?

Opening statements in Harvey Weinstein’s third Manhattan sex crimes trial are set to begin Tuesday morning — as the disgraced former Miramax perv tries once more to shake off rape allegations from a former actress.

The jury — comprised of seven men and five women — was finalized late Friday in Manhattan Supreme court, where they will decide whether Weinstein, 74, raped actress Jessica Mann inside a New York City hotel room over a decade ago.


Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan Supreme Court during his retrial.
Weinstein’s 2020 conviction for raping Mann was overturned, but he faces another conviction. POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Unlike his prior Manhattan trials, Mann is the only accuser set to testify. She has said she first met Weinstein after moving to Los Angeles to launch her acting career in late 2012.

Weinstein faces one count of third-degree rape after jurors at last year’s re-trial were unable to decide whether to convict him on the charge after a tumultuous week of deliberations.


Jessica Mann, a witness in the Harvey Weinstein retrial, leaving court.
Actress Jessica Mann is the sole accuser testifying against Weinstein in this trial. Steven Hirsch

The disgraced mogul was convicted of raping Mann following his first sex crimes trial in 2020.

He had been sentenced to 23 years in prison before New York’s highest court overturned his conviction.

At the re-trial, Mann sobbed on the witness stand as she told jurors about when Weinstein allegedly raped her.

He was ultimately convicted of first-degree criminal sex act for assaulting Miriam “Mimi” Haley, a former TV production assistant, and is awaiting sentencing.

Weinstein will be represented by Luigi Mangione and Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys Marc Agnifilo, Teny Geragos and Jacob Kaplan — who have teased of launching a new defense for Weinstein.

The trial is expected to take two weeks and will be before Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Curtis Farber.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *