By Canadian Press

Jury selection process continues in Weinstein’s rape trial

Jan 8, 2020 | 8:24 AM

NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein returned to a New York courthouse Wednesday for day two of what is expected to be a lengthy jury selection process in his rape trial.

Weinstein, who is 67 and recovering from recent back surgery, briefly set aside his walker and appeared to stumble slightly as he inched up the courthouse steps, but held fast to the handrail.

The day’s court action was expected to be a partial repeat from Tuesday, when the first prospective jurors were given questionnaires asking, among other things, if they could ignore media coverage and decide the case based only on evidence heard in court.

They were introduced as a group to Weinstein and were read a list of names that could come up at trial, including actresses Salma Hayek, Charlize Theron and Rosie Perez.

By the end of the day, just 36 potential jurors out of an initial 120 remained. New pools of prospective jurors will be summoned to court each morning in the coming days. A second round of jury selection will take place next week, when potential jurors who survived a first round of cuts come back to be questioned further.

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Weinstein is charged in New York with raping a woman in a hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performing a sex act on another woman in 2006. He could get life in prison if convicted. In a newly announced Los Angeles case, which will be tried later, he is accused of sexually assaulting two women on back-to-back nights in 2013.

Weinstein’s lawyers unsuccessfully tried to delay jury selection Tuesday in light of the Los Angeles case, asking for a “cooling-off period” to allow the publicity to subside.

“For a prosecutor, this is Christmas morning — the morning of jury selection to have him smeared everywhere,” Weinstein lawyer Arthur Aidala said.

But Judge James Burke expressed confidence that the jurors would know that Weinstein is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and he pressed on.

The former studio boss behind such Oscar winners as “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love” has said any sexual activity was consensual.

Jury selection got off to a rough start, with the judge threatening to jail Weinstein for violating court rules by texting in the courtroom.

“Is this really the way you want to end up in jail … by texting and violating a court order?” Burke asked, cutting off Weinstein off before he could respond.

Jurors were also told the trial will last about six weeks, once testimony begins.

Tom Hays, The Associated Press