Seven jurors, including four men and three women, have been selected to serve in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial.
Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi accused Weinstein’s team of “systemic” elimination of young, white females on two panels of 20 prospective jurors. None of the seven jurors chosen Thursday are white females.
New York County Judge James Burke, however, granted all of the defense’s preemptory challenges to those jurors in question, essentially ruling against the prosecution’s challenge.
“We had very sound reasons,” defense attorney Arthur Aidala told reporters. At least five white females were rejected by the defense team.
Before the jury questioning started Thursday morning, Judge Burke denied defense attorney Donna Rotunno’s last-ditch petition for sequestered jury questioning.
A pool of about 140 prospective jurors returned after a pre-screening process that included a questionnaire asking questions ranging from a juror’s occupation to whether they’d ever been sexually assaulted.
Supermodel Gigi Hadid was among the 63 jurors dismissed earlier in the morning based on their answers to the pre-screening questionnaire.
Judge Burke stressed Weinstein’s right to the presumption of inocence in his speech to the returning jurors, “This trial is not a referendum on the #MeToo movement,” and “it is not a referendum on sexual harassment,” he said,
Prosecution and defense attorneys asked the 40 jurors questions that might be a hint to their case strategies.
Defense attorney Damon Cheronis during the afternoon session asked a series of questions, apologizing for the sensitivity of the topic.
Jurors nodded at Cheronis when he asked, “Do you think that it’s possible that an individual could say they were sexually assaulted when they really weren’t?”
They nodded again when he asked, “Does anybody think an individual could have sex with someone that they may not find attractive for reasons other than love?
State and defense attorneys asked prospective jurors about the weight they would give to testimony from expert witnesses.
Dr. Barbara Ziv, a forensic psychiatrist who testified for the prosecution in the trial of Bill Cosby, will be a key witness for Weinstein prosecutors.
Assistant District Attorney Meghan Hast asked jurors whether they had the patience to listen to lengthy, emotional testimony from alleged victims of Weinstein.
All 20 members of the second jury pool answered “yes” when Hast asked if it was possible for them to find Weinstein guilty.
Judge Burke dismissed another juror and gave him a court date for a show of cause hearing because he tweeted about the jury selection. The judge recommended the juror hire a lawyer for the March 10 hearing.
Roughly 100 jurors will return Friday for the second day of questioning to fill the remaining seats.
The trial will have 12 jurors and several alternates.
Weinstein, 67, has been charged with five felony counts, including rape and predatory sexual assault, based on claims by two women. He has denied wrongdoing.
