NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Opening statements in Harvey Weinstein 鈥檚 #MeToo rape retrial began Wednesday with a prosecutor telling jurors about the three allegations at issue in the case, including one involving a woman who wasn鈥檛 part of the original trial in 2020. Weinstein鈥檚 lawyer countered that the women and the one-time Hollywood powerbroker had consensual relationships.
Kaja Sokola, a former model from Poland, alleges that Weinstein pinned her to a bed and forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006 after luring her to his Manhattan hotel room with the promise of movie scripts. Four years earlier, Sokola alleges, he molested her at his apartment when she was just 16, Assistant District Attorney Shannon Lucey told jurors.
Weinstein, 73, is charged in connection with the 2006 allegation, but not the earlier one. Sokola previously sued and received $3.5 million in compensation, Lucey said.
It's the first time Manhattan prosecutors have detailed Sokola鈥檚 allegations, which were added to the case after New York鈥檚 highest court overturned Weinstein's conviction last year. The rest of the retrial involves allegations from two women who were part of the original trial 鈥 Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann.
The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named, as Haley, Mann and Sokola have done.
Emphasizing Weinstein鈥檚 onetime influence in the movie industry, Lucey said the ex-studio boss used 鈥渄ream opportunities as weapons鈥 to prey on women. He is charged with raping Mann and forcing oral sex on Haley and Sokola.
鈥淭he defendant wanted their bodies, and the more they resisted, the more forceful he got,鈥 Lucey said.
Weinstein, she said, 鈥渉eld the golden ticket: a chance to make it, or not."
The Oscar-winning producer, seated in the wheelchair he now uses because of health problems, whispered with one of his lawyers and appeared to take notes as Lucey described his alleged crimes, but he didn't look at the jury.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denies raping or sexually assaulting anyone.
His lawyer, Arthur Aidala, told jurors in his opening statement that Weinstein engaged in 鈥渕utually beneficial relationships鈥 with women who wanted his help in the industry but that nothing he did was illegal.
鈥淚n this case, the casting couch is not a crime scene," Aidala argued.
He implored jurors to view the case with an open mind and to wait until they've heard all of the evidence before reaching a conclusion. Acknowledging Weinstein鈥檚 former career, Aidala compared the opening stage of the trial to a movie trailer.
鈥淗ow often is a preview great, but the movie falls flat on its face?鈥 the defense lawyer said. "After you hear all of the evidence, their case is going to fall flat on its face.鈥
The audience in the packed courtroom included Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He inherited the landmark #MeToo case, brought by his predecessor, when the Court of Appeals last year and 23-year prison sentence because the judge allowed testimony about allegations Weinstein was not charged with. The reversal led to the retrial.
is playing out at a different cultural moment than the first. #MeToo, which exploded in 2017 with allegations against Weinstein, has evolved and ebbed.
The and five men 鈥 unlike the seven-man, five-woman panel that convicted him in 2020 鈥 and there's a different judge.
At the start of Weinstein鈥檚 first trial, chants of 鈥渞apist鈥 could be heard from protesters outside. This time, there was none of that.
Weinstein is being retried on a criminal sex act charge for allegedly forcibly performing oral sex on Haley, a movie and TV production assistant at the time, in 2006, and a third-degree rape charge for allegedly assaulting Mann, a then-aspiring actor, in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.
Weinstein also faces a criminal sex act charge for allegedly forcing oral sex on Sokola, also in 2006. Prosecutors said she came forward days before his first trial but wasn鈥檛 part of that case. They said they revisited her allegations when his conviction was thrown out.
Weinstein鈥檚 acquittals on the two most serious charges at his 2020 trial 鈥 predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape 鈥 still stand.
Sokola's lawyer, Lindsay Goldbrum, said Weinstein鈥檚 retrial marks a 鈥減ivotal moment in the fight for accountability in sex abuse cases鈥 and a 鈥渟ignal to other survivors that the system is catching up 鈥 and that it鈥檚 worth speaking out even when the odds seem insurmountable.鈥
During jury selection, a prosecutor asked prospective jurors whether they'd heard of the #MeToo movement. Most said they had, but that it wouldn't affect them either way.
Those who indicated it might were excused.
