The jury to sit in the trial of film producer Harvey Weinstein, accused of sexual assault and rape, was finalized Friday, and includes five women out of 12 people. At the end of two weeks of hearing, which will have seen nearly 700 people summoned, state judge James Burke on Friday validated the names of five additional jurors, after the seven chosen Thursday.
The court also retained three more names as additional jurors, who will sit but will not participate in the deliberations, except in the event of the defection of one or more principal jurors. The judge has yet to choose three additional jurors.
The judge fixed the end of the trial to March 6
The jury is made up of seven men and five women, while the selection process has greatly accelerated after the defense has exhausted the 20 peremptory (unmotivated) challenges allocated to it. As a reminder, the prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon had complained to the judge, on several occasions, that the defense sought to systematically remove the young white women from the jury.
The opening arguments are scheduled to take place on January 22 and the judge has set March 6 for the end of the trial. Harvey Weinstein, accused of harassment or sexual assault by more than 80 women, will however only be tried in New York for two alleged facts, a sexual assault and a rape.
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