Harvey Weinstein claims the fix is in, and he’s unlikely to get a fair trial based on the jury selection process.
This, from new court docs filed on Friday afternoon by the disgraced film producer’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala. In those docs, Aidala outlines his desire for a change of venue, specifically because “stealth jurors” lied during the selection process, he claims, and allegedly harbor secret prejudices against Weinstein. Hmmm…
Related: Harvey Says He ‘Pioneered’ Women’s Filmmaking! WTF?!
According to the legal docs, as reported by TMZ, Aidala claims that the 12-person jury which has been set in the upcoming case was tainted by this pool of “stealth jurors.” Basically, the lawyer says, he believes several of the jurors testified in court how they held no prejudices for or against Weinstein, when in secret they were actually hoping to get on the jury so they could convict him. We don’t know many people who actually want to be on jury duty, but we digress…
Anyways, within the court docs, Aidala does produce two examples he says are hard evidence of a tainted jury pool. In those examples, two prospective jurors claimed impartiality in court while later revealing their real feelings on social media. One of the jurors in question allegedly took to Facebook and wrote the following (below):
“Goodbye Jury Duty. And goodbye Harvey Weinstein. I hope they convict you on all counts…I was told not to talk about the trial if I was a juror…I don’t know if it’s my past as a lawyer or my past at Disney but I’m free for the next 4 years- unlike Harvey!”
Hmmm… that’s one way to look at it, we suppose.
And the other prospective juror in question also used the social media site to confirm they’d been called to testify about potentially serving in the Weinstein case, too.
Although by the looks of it, sure sounds like this one did not make the final case, either (below):
“Ok that was my time on the Weinstein case. Do I get paid? I don’t get up before 5 for free. Harvey you cant [sic] act for sh*t with that walker you made it look like a prize on The Price is Right. Also they’re gonna crucify you.”
Well then. That’s quite a reaction!
Not great if actual jurors still on the case feel this way, of course — we’d hope a jury of our peers could be impartial no matter what. Still, it sounds like both these jurors are not part of the final twelve involved here, so…
Related: Harvey Isn’t Out A Penny In That HUGE Civil Suit — So Who’s Paying It?!
Nevertheless, Aidala believes a change of venue would be the right thing to do in this case, even though opening arguments in this trial are slated to begin this coming week. Wow!
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[Image via WENN/Avalon]
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