NEW YORK - Former Hollywood power-player producer Harvey Weinstein was back in court in New York on Tuesday for a retrial nearly eight years after his initial arrest, German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
In 2013, the 74-year-old allegedly raped an aspiring actress in a Manhattan hotel, the prosecution said in its opening statement, according to reports in US media.
Prosecutors argued the case would "come down to power, to control and to manipulation."
Weinstein’s lawyers, who were also present in court, maintained that the encounter was consensual. A jury was selected in the days leading up to the trial.
Weinstein was sentenced in 2020 to 23 years in prison for rape and criminal sexual acts, but the conviction was overturned in 2024 due to procedural errors.
A retrial last summer ended with a split verdict: jurors found him guilty of serious sexual offences against one woman, but acquitted him on a separate charge involving a second woman.
They were unable to reach a verdict on a third charge, which is now being retried.
In a separate case in California in 2023, Weinstein was sentenced to a further 16 years in prison.
More than 100 women came forward with sexual assault and harassment allegations against Weinstein, which set off the viral #MeToo social media movement in 2017. - BERNAMA