Opening statements to begin in Harvey Weinstein's LA sexual assault trial
LOS ANGELES — Opening statements are set for Monday in the Los Angeles trial of Harvey Weinstein.
Already serving a 23-year-old sentence for a conviction in New York, the 70-year-old former movie magnate is charged with four counts of rape and seven other counts of sexual assault in a trial that is expected to last six weeks.
A jury of nine men and three women was seated Thursday.
Weinstein is more than two years sentence for a 2020 conviction for rape and sexual assault in New York. The state's highest court has agreed to hear his appeal in that case.
In Los Angeles, Weinstein faces a trial in the city where he was once a colossus during Hollywood's awards season and at the Oscars. The five accusers who will testify in the case are expected to be identified only as Jane Doe. Jennifer Siebel Newsom, an actor and documentary filmmaker who is married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, is among the accusers.
The Associated Press does not normally name people who say they've been sexually abused unless they've agreed to be named publicly, as Newsom has through her attorney.
The trial opened two weeks ago with jury selection, five years after women's stories about him gave massive momentum to the #MeToo movement.
Earlier this month, a judge ruled that actor and director Mel Gibson can testify about what he learned from one of Harvey Weinstein's accusers.
The 66-year-old actor and director was one of many witnesses and by far the best known, whose identities were revealed in Los Angeles Superior Court. The witness list for the trial is sealed.
Also this month, the film "She Said" premiered, which tells the story of the work of the two New York Times reporters whose stories brought Weinstein down.