NEW YORK — Seven jurors have been selected in the Harvey Weinstein sex crimes trial, and early Friday, the disgraced movie mogul’s legal team made another last-ditch effort to have jury selection closed to the media and sequestered.
Arthur Aidala argued in part that, “there’s been much more publicity today and articles that have come out about this case. … I know the court has been admonishing jurors to not look at anything, but we know some jurors have been ignoring that.”
He filed the defense’s fourth motion for a sequestered jury, which was promptly denied by Judge James Burke.
“Your application is denied,” the judge said, being as frank about his distaste for this latest request as he has been about the others. “Nothing you said makes logical sense to me.”
On Thursday, the court picked four men and three women to serve on the jury in the high-profile case of Weinstein, 67, who is charged with five counts of sexual assault and rape in New York.
Harvey Weinstein arrives at a Manhattan courthouse to attend jury selection for his trial on rape and sexual assault charges, Friday, Jan. 17, 2020 in New York. (Photo: Mark Lennihan/ AP)
The jury selection process will continue Friday, before the court takes off for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday Monday.
Despite few dustups between Weinstein’s defense and prosecution this week, the trial has still had its share of drama in the jury screening process. Supermodel Gigi Hadid caused a stir when she arrived at a Manhattan courthouse to answer a jury summons, although she was dismissed from the case Thursday.
Harvey Weinstein trial: Five jurors, 3 men, 2 women, picked; potential juror facing jail time for tweet
Another prospective juror faces 30 days in jail after posting about his jury summons for the Weinstein trial on Twitter, and must return to court in March with an attorney to fight a contempt charge.
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