Harvey Weinstein received a authorized victory in his rape and sexual assault retrial in Manhattan, as his pleas to get out of the “hell hole” he calls Rikers Island have been granted by the choose.
The previous Hollywood energy dealer will probably be transferred from the notorious New York Metropolis lockup to Bellevue Hospital, a choose dominated Thursday. Weinstein will probably be allowed to remain on the Kips Bay hospital till the conclusion of the trial.
“To not do so could lead to exacerbation of and further serious medical conditions, and possibly death,” State Supreme Court docket Choose Paul Goetz stated in his determination.
Manhattan District Lawyer Alvin Bragg’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
In the meantime, dozens extra individuals have been screened on Thursday as potential jurors for Weinstein’s rape retrial, however the choice wrapped up for the week with a number of slots nonetheless to be stuffed. Choice will pause for Good Friday and resume Monday.
The panel began taking form Wednesday, when 5 girls and 4 males have been picked for the redo of the landmark #MeToo-era trial. Then, greater than 140 different potential jurors have been introduced into court docket Thursday to start the multistep choice course of.
Even one one that did not elevate a hand quickly had second ideas, telling the choose — with out different potential jurors in earshot — that she wasn’t positive she may disregard all that she’d learn in regards to the case through the years. Choose Curtis Farber let her go.
In the end, about 50 individuals superior to the following stage of questioning Thursday afternoon.
Weinstein, an Oscar-winning producer and onetime Hollywood energy dealer, is charged with raping two totally different girls — an aspiring actor and a manufacturing assistant — on separate events. He’s additionally charged with forcing oral intercourse on one other girl.
Weinstein, 73, has pleaded not responsible. He says all his sexual experiences have been consensual.
Allegations about him emerged publicly in 2017, fueled the #MeToo motion in opposition to sexual misconduct and led to a number of prosecutions. The ex-movie mogul was convicted of rape at his first New York trial in 2020. Two years later, he was convicted in Los Angeles of a separate rape cost that he additionally denied.
Then his New York conviction and 23-year jail sentence have been overturned by the state’s highest court docket final 12 months. That reversal led to the retrial, the place the costs and anticipated proof differ considerably from the unique trial.
Prosecutors and protection legal professionals are to decide on 12 jurors and 6 alternates.
Farber is overseeing the painstaking course of: The 9 jurors chosen to date have been whittled from roughly 140 individuals who went by means of preliminary screening earlier this week.
Potential jurors might be excused for varied causes, starting from language boundaries to prior experiences with — or opinions about — individuals or points in a case. Prosecutors and protection legal professionals additionally get a restricted variety of probabilities to eradicate potential jurors with out giving a motive.
Opening statements are anticipated to start Tuesday.
