Weinstein Jury Seated After Prosecutors Accuse Defense Of Excluding White Women

(Reuters) – Lawyers in Harvey Weinstein’s New York rape trial
finished selecting 12 jurors on Friday to decide the former
Hollywood producer’s fate, as prosecutors renewed an accusation
that the defense had unfairly tried to block white women from
serving on the jury.

The jury, comprised of six white men, three black women, one
black man and two white women, is set to hear opening arguments
next week.

Weinstein, the 67-year-old producer of Hollywood hits such as
“The English Patient” and “Shakespeare in Love”, has pleaded not
guilty to assaulting two women. He faces life in prison if
convicted.

Since 2017 more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual
misconduct dating back decades. He denies the allegations, saying
any sexual encounters were consensual.

The accusations against him helped fuel the #MeToo movement, in
which women have publicly accused powerful men in several
industries of sexual abuse.

Lawyers seated two white female jurors on Friday after
Weinstein’s defense team had exhausted their opportunity to
eliminate potential jurors who did not exhibit explicit bias
against the defendant or otherwise seem unfit to serve.

Three legal experts said the defense appeared to assume white
women would be more likely to sympathize with Weinstein’s
accusers.

Weinstein is charged with assaulting two women, Mimi Haleyi, who
is white, and an anonymous accuser whose race is unknown. At least
one other white female accuser, U.S. actress Annabella Sciorra, is
expected to testify.

“It looks like their thought process is that a white woman would
have more of an affinity to the victims,” said Michael Bachner, a
defense lawyer who is not involved in the case.

As potential jurors were eliminated on Thursday and Friday,
prosecutor Joan Illuzzi accused Weinstein’s lawyers of
systematically striking “every white female” from the pool.

“They are systematically eliminating a class of people from this
jury,” Illuzzi said on Friday.

Weinstein’s lawyers cited specific reasons for excluding each
white woman. One had a father and brother in the FBI, and would be
biased because she was “surrounded by law enforcement,” said
defense lawyer Arthur Aidala. One was a model, like some of
Weinstein’s 80 accusers. Another had a photo of a women’s march
posted prominently on her Facebook profile, and a “social media
influencer” daughter, the defense said.

Justice James Burke allowed the challenges without giving a
reason.

“We are here to try to pick a fair jury,” Donna Rotunno,
Weinstein’s lead attorney, said on Thursday. “This is not some
conspiracy against the state.”

Lawyers can excuse an unlimited number of potential jurors if
they show explicit bias for or against Weinstein.

Beyond that, both sides can use “peremptory” challenges to
reject jurors they believe will be unsympathetic, without providing
a reason. Lawyers typically get three peremptory challenges, but in
this case each side was given 20.

Weinstein’s lawyers used roughly half of their peremptory
challenges to excuse prospective white female jurors who had not
otherwise been excused for bias or rejected by prosecutors.

It is illegal to use peremptory challenges to eliminate
potential jurors on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity or
religion.

Jill Taylor, who works for a trial consulting firm, said the
defense’s reasons for dismissing the white women appeared to be
legitimate.

“To the extent you know someone’s an activist or you know that
someone is a model, those factors are going to weigh more heavily
than just someone’s basic demographics in decision-making,” Taylor
said. “Straight demographics are not generally predictive of how
someone is going to hear a case.”

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