By: Rusty Brooks
Over half of the jurors in the Harvey Weinstein case are men, according to the N.Y Times.
The N.Y Times reported: “They are systematically eliminating every young white woman on this jury,” the lead prosecutor, Joan Illuzzi, said in court on Thursday afternoon. She renewed the same protest vigorously on Friday, noting the defense had objected to “every single white woman.”
The Times also reported: “Defense lawyers said their resistance to seating certain people had to do with their responses on a questionnaire, which, in their minds, raised doubts about whether the prospective jurors could be fair. Mr. Weinstein’s lead lawyer, Donna Rotunno, said the challenges “had nothing to do with race or sex, frankly.”
The defense was also careful to eliminate any woman who had been a victim of sexual assault or had a close friend or family member as a victim.
7 men have been picked as jurors and 5 women., 3 of them white woman. All of Weinstein’s accusers are white women.
There was a level of difficulty picking the jurors from the start.
Page Six reported in an exclusive that: Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers asked a judge Friday to dismiss all prospective jurors present when a panelist said she couldn’t be impartial since her good friend had a run-in with the disgraced movie mogul.
This incident happened on the 4th day of jury selection for the huge trial of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Page Six reported : On Jan. 8, the female juror, whose name is being withheld by the Post, said in open court, “I have a close friend who had an encounter with [the] defendant in his hotel room, and I do not think I can be a fair juror in this case.”
The potential juror did not reveal any further details about her friend and the Weinstein incident.
Finally, last Friday the full jury was seated, ending a long 2-week process which included the incident that Page Six reported.
The New York Times stated: “ Ms. Illuzzi did not say in court why having few young white women on the jury would be problematic for the prosecution, but the district attorney’s office appeared to be operating on the theory that such jurors were likely to be sympathetic to Mr. Weinstein’s accusers”
