The trial of the convicted sexual assailant and former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is beginning in California. It marks the second time the fallen Hollywood titan is standing trial on accusations of sexual assault.
Weinstein is facing 11 more sexual assault charges for alleged attacks against five women between 2004 and 2013. The accusations include forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual battery by restraint, and sexual penetration by use of force.
Today the first phase of the trial begins, which is the jury selection. The trial is expected to last several weeks.
Weinstein has been incarcerated since February 2020 after a New York jury convicted him of rape in the third degree for his assault on one woman and a criminal sex act in the first degree for forcing oral sex on Miriam Haley, a former Project Runway production assistant.
The New York judge sentenced Weinstein to 23 years in prison. He still has 21 years left of that prison sentence. Weinstein recently sought to have his New York conviction overturned, but a five-judge panel upheld the ruling.
However, New York state’s highest court has agreed to allow Weinstein to appeal the conviction. This late-summer surprise gave Weinstein a glimmer of hope of walking free, adding to the stakes of the California case. Should Mr. Weinstein win his appeal, the Los Angeles case would determine his fate.
Weinstein’s trial in Los Angeles comes five years after reports in the New York Times and the New Yorker about the allegations against the producer helped spark the #MeToo movement.
Nearly 90 women came forward within weeks of the first revelations, accusing Weinstein of inappropriate behavior, sexual violence, sexual assault and rape.
If Weinstein is convicted in Los Angeles, he will face up to 140 years in prison. But if Weinstein is acquitted by Hollywood’s hometown legal system, it could have a chilling effect, experts rights worry.
Los Angeles courts already have a reputation for being soft on show business figures.
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