A jury was chosen Thursday for Harvey Weinstein’s sex assault trial in Los Angeles.
The jury consists of nine men and three women. They were chosen in a process that lasted about six days from a pool of 225 potential jurors summoned last week.
Later within the day, eight alternates were also seated and sworn in.
The 2 sides had initially planned to have 10 alternates but settled on eight and quickly agreed on who they needs to be.
One among those alternates called the court late within the day to disclose an inability to serve. That juror is perhaps dismissed Monday morning. The court will hear final motions on which witnesses and testimony to permit on Friday.
The trial is anticipated to last six more weeks.
Since the jurors’ personal information was revealed mostly in questionnaires that remain sealed, little is understood concerning the 12 jurors who will resolve Weinstein’s fate. Those that were seated were asked few questions in court.
Their ages appeared to range mostly between 40 and 70. A number of gave the impression to be older than that, and one man gave the impression to be in his early- to mid-20s. Of the three women, two are older adults, and one gave the impression to be about 30.
One among the ladies said in the course of the selection process she was “on the fence” concerning the #MeToo movement.
“I think most girls but not necessarily all,” she said.
One other, an older man, has a daughter who’s an attorney.
“I even have an excellent deal of respect for each side of the table and our system of justice,” he told one among Weinstein’s attorneys.
He expressed some doubt about whether he could discover a guilty verdict in a sexual assault case with no DNA evidence. There isn’t any DNA evidence within the case.
“It’s form of an ambiguous query,” the juror said. “All of it will depend on the kind of assault.”
One other man said he was not fearful about getting grief from family, friends or co-workers in the event that they learned he returned a not guilty verdict against Weinstein.
Earlier within the week, Weinstein’s defense team secured a win in court.
A judge said she would allow Weinstein’s defense the chance to query the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, about an email she sent to Weinstein two years after she was allegedly raped by the now 70-year-old.
Los Angeles Judge Lisa Lench ruled that the defense could ask about an email Siebel Newsom sent looking for media advice from Weinstein but didn’t say if it was about revelations of an affair Gavin Newsom had with an aide when he was mayor of San Francisco.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of rape and sexual assault involving Siebel Newsom and 4 other women. All of them will testify as Jane Doe in the course of the trial.
Weinstein, 70, is serving a 23-year prison sentence following a conviction in Recent York. Weinstein was granted permission to take his appeal of his 2020 sex crime conviction to the Recent York State Court of Appeals.
Opening statements are expected to start on Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A jury was chosen Thursday for Harvey Weinstein’s sex assault trial in Los Angeles.
The jury consists of nine men and three women. They were chosen in a process that lasted about six days from a pool of 225 potential jurors summoned last week.
Later within the day, eight alternates were also seated and sworn in.
The 2 sides had initially planned to have 10 alternates but settled on eight and quickly agreed on who they needs to be.
One among those alternates called the court late within the day to disclose an inability to serve. That juror is perhaps dismissed Monday morning. The court will hear final motions on which witnesses and testimony to permit on Friday.
The trial is anticipated to last six more weeks.
Since the jurors’ personal information was revealed mostly in questionnaires that remain sealed, little is understood concerning the 12 jurors who will resolve Weinstein’s fate. Those that were seated were asked few questions in court.
Their ages appeared to range mostly between 40 and 70. A number of gave the impression to be older than that, and one man gave the impression to be in his early- to mid-20s. Of the three women, two are older adults, and one gave the impression to be about 30.
One among the ladies said in the course of the selection process she was “on the fence” concerning the #MeToo movement.
“I think most girls but not necessarily all,” she said.
One other, an older man, has a daughter who’s an attorney.
“I even have an excellent deal of respect for each side of the table and our system of justice,” he told one among Weinstein’s attorneys.
He expressed some doubt about whether he could discover a guilty verdict in a sexual assault case with no DNA evidence. There isn’t any DNA evidence within the case.
“It’s form of an ambiguous query,” the juror said. “All of it will depend on the kind of assault.”
One other man said he was not fearful about getting grief from family, friends or co-workers in the event that they learned he returned a not guilty verdict against Weinstein.
Earlier within the week, Weinstein’s defense team secured a win in court.
A judge said she would allow Weinstein’s defense the chance to query the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, about an email she sent to Weinstein two years after she was allegedly raped by the now 70-year-old.
Los Angeles Judge Lisa Lench ruled that the defense could ask about an email Siebel Newsom sent looking for media advice from Weinstein but didn’t say if it was about revelations of an affair Gavin Newsom had with an aide when he was mayor of San Francisco.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of rape and sexual assault involving Siebel Newsom and 4 other women. All of them will testify as Jane Doe in the course of the trial.
Weinstein, 70, is serving a 23-year prison sentence following a conviction in Recent York. Weinstein was granted permission to take his appeal of his 2020 sex crime conviction to the Recent York State Court of Appeals.
Opening statements are expected to start on Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
