Editor's Note: This story includes descriptions of sexual assault and rape allegations.

Harvey Weinstein ends the debate at a second sex crime trial in New York.

In 2020, a New York jury found Weinstein fallen from the grace of the legendary film tycoon after he found rape and sexual assault guilty. But Weinstein's conviction was dismissed last year and a new trial began in April.

Apart from Weinstein and his accusers, few in courts were five years ago. Judges are different from jurors. The same goes for prosecutors and some defense attorneys.

The climate has also changed. The #MeToo movement peaked at its 2020 trial, with detailed sexual assault allegations against Weinstein assisting #METOO movement publishing. The New York Times and New Yorker In autumn 2017.

But today, from comedian Louis CK to actor Kevin Spacey, many outstanding people accused of misconduct have begun to make public appearances again. Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is the main contender for New York City's next mayor, and jurors at lunch break may have seen his campaign poster around Lower Manhattan. Cuomo resigned in 2021 after an investigation found he sexually harassed 11 women. Donald Trump was elected president the following year after being held accountable for sexual abuse in a civil trial in 2023.

Meanwhile, the powerful men in the entertainment continue to be held. Weinstein's second New York trial in state court coincided with a sex trafficking and racket trial by rapper and music producer Sean Combs, also known as Diddy, in federal court a few blocks away. The trial is underway.

Weinstein was convicted of California's sexual offences in 2022, but his legal team also appealed the charges.

Gloria Allred is the lawyer who acts as a harassment and assault claim on behalf of many women, including Mimi Haley, who testified against Weinstein at the trial, told a group of journalists outside the court in late April that even with numerous high-profile cases, the #METOO movement is “alive, alive”. She said many women have been able to successfully obtain confidential citizen reconciliation. "I just did one yesterday without having to file a lawsuit," Eled said.

New trials with some key differences

Most of the power of the #MeToo movement is included by its name. As more women talk about their experiences, especially in the experiences of powerful men, their comprehensive records can reliably show patterns of bad behavior.

But in this trial, the prosecutor's cooperation materials were less than the first one. This is because the Court of Appeal ruled in 2024 that Judge James M. Burke, who presided over the first Weinstein trial, mistakenly allowed the testimony, aiming to establish Weinstein's pattern of misconduct. Many of the women in the trial testified in New York that the charges were not crimes that were indictment in the case of New York being called Molineux testimony.

Most of the majority of the split Court of Appeals wrote: “Abuse of judicial discretion is to allow untested charges of bad conduct to destroy the character of the defendants, but without credibility associated with the criminal charges they filed.”

As a result, after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg decided to retry Weinstein, his legal team presented jurors with testimony from only three plaintiffs, rather than the six who got a stand in the first trial.

Elder said the decision of the Court of Appeal to avoid testimony from what she said, “I am also a witness.” “They can show what is called a criminal tendency.”

The charges at the heart of the case

Weinstein was charged with two counts of sexual conduct on the first degree and one count of rape on the third degree. The prosecution established a case around three celebrity witnesses, and their narratives have a lot in common. All three women were young when they met Weinstein and longed to succeed in entertainment.

One of them is Miriam "Mimi" Haley, who testified that she is the producer of Weinstein Project runway In 2006, when she visited Weinstein in his Soho apartment. After Weinstein allegedly rushed towards her, she said she made it clear that she didn't want to have sex. Haley then testified that Weinstein had thrown her on the bed, surrendered and gave in, and gave her oral sex. "I can't get rid of his grip, I can't get rid of him," Hailey said. "And I realize I'm like I'm raped - that's it."

Her planner was born in evidence, noting that she had a while back. In the testimony, Hayley described Weinstein tearing off the tampon from his vagina.

Another woman, Kaja Sokola, said she met Harvey Weinstein in a hotel in downtown Manhattan in spring 2006 and brought her sister. Sokola was 19 years old at the time and was a model and aspiring actress. She testified that Weinstein told her there was a movie script he wanted her to read, and she followed him to a hotel room upstairs and left her sister. Sokora said that once the hotel room was closed, Weinstein pushed her to the bed and started undressing. "I kept saying 'Please don't, please stop, I don't want this!'" Sokora testified. Weinstein gave her a blowjob. Afterwards, Sokola claimed: "He said to me, 'You know- that's not that difficult.'"

Third plaintiff, Jessica Mann, said Weinstein raped her in 2013 at a hotel in Manhattan. Like other women, she said in her testimony that she resisted but did not match Heatoyset Weinstein's body.

Haley and Mann testify at the first trial; Sokora is the new witness.

"She did it for only one reason...it was for justice," said Allred, representing Haley.

Question the accuser

For Weinstein’s large team of lawyers, clearing clients’ names means getting the three plaintiffs dirty.

"Any trial with witnesses, such as the complainant, you will attack credibility," Imran Ansari, a member of the Weinstein Defense Team, said outside the court in April. "That goes without saying."

In his opening speech to juror Arthur Aidala, Weinstein's chief attorney, dismissed the prosecution's claim that Weinstein has all power in his relationship with women. Aidala calls Haley, Sokola and Mann "delicate" and "condom" players, who see Weinstein as a golden vote for success. "They tried to cut the boundaries," Aidala said. He described Weinstein's sexual encounters as a common "friend with interest" in the industry.

During cross-examination, the defense team attempts to break down each woman’s story by asking questions about their judgment and behavior. For example, Haley, Sokola and Mann all testified that they continued to communicate with Weinstein even after allegedly attacked Weinstein. Weinstein's lawyer honed the information. Mann testified that she continued to have sex with Weinstein and sought help from the company less than a month after she was suspected of rape. Under cross-examination by defense attorneys, Sokola's sister Ewa Sokola said Kaja did not disclose the alleged attack or bad speeches to Weinstein before 2017.

The three women also received a large number of citizen settlements.

The defense team often claims that the court itself is biased against Weinstein, and his lawyers made many misunderstanding motions during the litigation process. All were rejected by Justice Curtis Farber.

defendant

Throughout the trial, Weinstein, 73, sat in a wheelchair on a defensive table, usually wearing a dark blue or charcoal suit. Court officials removed the handcuffs before the jury entered the room. Although pale, Weinstein seemed energetic, watching witness testimony attentively and communicating with lawyers.

According to his attorney, Weinstein was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia and many other health problems.

Contrary to the photo, his appearance declined in contrast to the photo, and the jury was proven at the peak of his career in the 1990s and early 2000s: Hillary and Bill Clinton shook hands with Queen Elizabeth II, showing the awards for the camera with Gwyneth Paltrow.

Weinstein Sex, lies and videotapes,,,,, Pulp novel and Shakespeare in love.

There have been rumors about his sex life for years. In the fall of 2017, the dam is accused of opening up with back-to-back Exposés The New York Times and New Yorker. Each report includes multiple record interviews with Weinstein accusers. Within a few weeks, Weinstein was evacuated from the company he co-founded, expelled from the School of Film Arts and Sciences, and left by his then-wife, who later divorced him.

Weinstein did not testify at his own trial. But he did have a rare interview with the far-right Podcaster Candace Owens in an episode released during the trial. Weinstein admitted on her show that he was unfaithful to his wife and hurt the people around him, but insisted that he was innocent of the allegations being tried.