Harvey Weinstein retrial begins: Prosecutors say Hollywood mogul made assault victims ‘really feel small’

Prosecutors in Harvey Weinstein’s retrial instructed a Manhattan jury on Wednesday that the disgraced Hollywood mogul used his energy and affect to sexually assault girls and make them “feel small,” ignoring their pleas to cease.
Weinstein, 73, is dealing with retrial on expenses of sexually assaulting former manufacturing assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013. A brand new depend has additionally been added, alleging he assaulted a 19-year-old aspiring mannequin, Kaja Sokola, in a Manhattan lodge that very same yr.
Assistant District Attorney Shannon Lucey, in her opening assertion, detailed the alleged assaults, saying all three girls resisted Weinstein’s advances. “He made all these women feel small,” Lucey stated. “When he wanted something, he took it.”

Describing the 2006 assault, Lucey instructed jurors that Weinstein, “three times her size,” cornered Haleyi in an condo, kissed and groped her, and compelled oral intercourse on her regardless of her repeated rejections.
Weinstein, wearing a darkish go well with and showing in a wheelchair, sometimes glanced on the jury throughout proceedings. Lucey known as him “one of the most powerful men in show business,” asserting he used that standing to use susceptible girls within the business.
The trial is predicted to run for 5 to 6 weeks and consists of testimony from accusers who had been central to the 2020 conviction that was later overturned. That ruling by New York’s highest courtroom discovered that the inclusion of further uncharged testimony on the unique trial had prejudiced the jury.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, challenged the prosecution’s narrative, saying the jury would hear no proof of power or lack of consent. He claimed Mann launched Weinstein to her mom after the alleged rape and that Haleyi continued to have a “consensual” relationship with him. “Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty,” Aidala repeated to the jury.
More than 80 girls have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct since his downfall in 2017, together with Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Ashley Judd. He has denied all allegations and maintains the encounters had been consensual.
Weinstein is at the moment serving a 16-year jail sentence in California following a separate conviction for raping a European actress. The retrial in New York comes greater than seven years after his fall from energy triggered the worldwide #MeToo motion.