Weinstein’s lawyers want trial moved
Request says case has turned into a ‘circus’
NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers went to court Thursday with a last-minute demand to halt jury selection and move his rape trial out of New York City, where they say intense media coverage, protesters and even the consideration of supermodel Gigi Hadid as a juror have turned the case into a “media and entertainment circus.”
Weinstein’s lawyers detoured to the Manhattan appellate court for oral arguments hours after the 24-yearold Hadid was dismissed from the jury pool and as jurors were starting to be picked for the case. By lunchtime Thursday, five jurors had been selected — three men and two women — from about 145 potential jurors who were invited back for additional questioning.
“The deluge of publicity adverse to Mr. Weinstein has engulfed the potential jury pool resulting in untoward pressure upon jurors to convict a man demonized and prejudged guilty,” Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala wrote in court papers that spurred Thursday’s trip to the appellate court.
Prosecutors oppose moving the trial, pointing to the plethora of potential jurors still in the running after pledging they could be fair and impartial as evidence that the process is working. Moving to a smaller community with a smaller jury pool would only make it more difficult to find jurors, they added.
The appellate court did not immediately rule. The matter will go to a panel of judges with the aim of having a decision before opening statements, which could happen as early as next week.
Weinstein, 67, is charged with raping a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and sexually assaulting another in 2006. He has pleaded not guilty and said any sexual activity was consensual. If convicted, Weinstein could face life in prison.