New York (AFP) – Hollywood Magnate Harvey Weinstein faces a trial as of Tuesday, for charges of rape and sexual assault by which an previous verdict was revoked, which forced the survivors who helped shoot against the movement of the movement of the “Metify” movement.
Weinstein’s conviction in 2017 by a jury was overcome seven years later by an appeal court that ruled the way in which witnesses were handled in the original New York trial was illegal.
The jury’s verdict by the New York Court of Appeals was a setback for the survivors of the movement against sexual violence and the promotion of justice for the survivors.
The Miramax Studio chief will be in the Court for the sexual assault of former Mimi Haleyi production assistant in 2006, the violation of the candidate for actress Jessica Mann in 2013, and a new count for an alleged sexual assault in a hotel in Manhattan. Haleyi and Mann testified in the previous trial, sharing the graphic testimony of their interactions with Weinstein.
The new trial, which is expected to last up to six weeks in a Criminal Court in Manhattan, begins on Tuesday with the jury selection, which could take five days, according to Judge Curtis Farber.
Weinstein, 73, said that the hope that the case will be judged with “fresh eyes”, more than seven years after the investigations of the New York Times and the New York led to their spectacular fall and a global reaction against the predator.
Weinstein is complying with a prison sentence of 16 years after being sentenced for separate positions in California in 2023 for violating and assaulting a European Academy a decade earlier.
‘Very different’?
The producer of a box office success chain such as “Sex, Lies and Video Tape”, “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love”, Weinstein has appeared fragile and demacrated in the recent hearings of the court hall before trial.
“It will be very, very different due to the attitude of New York City, the state of New York and, I think, the country in general,” said his lawyer Arthur Aidala.
“Five years ago, when you were here, there were protests. There were people singing:” Fría Harvey, he is a rapist “… I think, in general, he has calmed down,” he said he expected the jurors to try the case in Itit.
Weinstein has never recognized any irregularity and has always maintained that the meetings were consensual.
The batteries describe the cinema tycoon as a predator who used the hanger at the top of the film industry to press actresses and assistants for sexual favors, or in hotel rooms.
Since its fall, Weinstein has been accused or harassment, sexual aggression or rape by more than 80 women, including actors Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lupita Nyong’o and Ashley Judd.
In 2020, a jury of New York found Weinstein guilty of two of five positions: Haleyi’s sexual assault and Mann’s rape.
But the condemnation and prison sentence of 23 years were revoked in April 2024.
In a very debated decision of four to three, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that jury members should not have heard victims’ testimonies about sexual assaults for which Harvey Weinstein was not accused.
“It really reflects the challenges faced by survivors when seeking justice for sexual aggression,” said Laura Palumbo of the National Center for Resources of Sexual Violence.
The three survivors of the supposed crimes of Weinstein are expected to testify once again.
