Lawyers for Harvey Weinstein want his rape trial in New York City moved, calling it a ‘circus.’
If convicted, former movie mogul could face life in prison
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 publicity, protesters and even the consideration of supermodel Gigi Hadid as a juror have turned the case into a “media and entertain- ment circus.”
Weinstein's lawyers de- toured to the Manhattan appellate court for oral arguments hours after the 24-year-old Hadid was dismissed from the jury pool and as jurors were starting to be picked for the case. By the end of the day, seven jurors — four men and three women — had been selected from about 145 potential jurors who remained in the pool after an initial round of questioning.
Weinstein's lawyers, who floated similar concerns in a losing effort to move the trial in October, said a “carnival-like atmosphere” has taken hold during eight days of jury selection, making it impossible for Weinstein to get a fair trial in his hometown.
“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 a filing that spurred Thursday's trip to the appellate court.
Weinstein, 67, is charged with raping a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and sexually assaulting another woman in 2006. He has pleaded not guilty and said any sexual activity was consensual. If convicted, Weinstein could face life in prison.
‘Media capital of the world’
His lawyers acknowledge media coverage of the ex-movie mogul's case extends beyond the city, but they argue the furor has reached an only-in-New-York degree.
“You're in the media capital of the world,” Weinstein attorney John Esposito told appellate Justice David Friedman.
Prosecutors oppose moving the trial, pointing to the plethora of potential jurors still in the running — all pledged 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.
As for the protests, prosecutor Valerie Figuerdo argued: “There's no reason to think the jurors would be impacted by it because New Yorkers see protests all the time.”
The appellate court did not immediately rule on moving the trial. 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. Friedman declined a request from Weinstein's lawyers to halt the trial until the panel rules.
In pushing to get the trial moved, Weinstein's lawyers cited “flash mob” protests in the streets outside the Manhattan courthouse during jury selection, with chanting and banging from pots and pans heard in the courtroom 15 stories up, as well other factors such as the frenzy over Hadid's appearance in the jury pool.
Hadid was at the courthouse for a matter of minutes Thursday before being cut from the list of potential jurors, shaking hands with a court officer on her way out.
The supermodel had caused a stir Monday when she emerged as a potential juror, telling the judge she had met both Weinstein and a potential witness, actress Salma Hayek, but could “keep an open mind on the facts.”
Nonetheless, the defense and prosecutors later agreed that having her on the jury would create too much commotion.