On Tuesday, the New York Supreme Court began the selection of a jury in the rape trial of celebrity Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. A look at the charges he faces, and the significance of the trial: What is Weinstein accused of? In what has become one of the defining stories of the #MeToo movement over the last two years, more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting or harassing them. In the New York trial, the criminal charges relate to just three women. * Mimi Haleyi, a former production assistant on a Weinstein Company television show, has accused Weinstein of forcibly performing a sexual act on her in his home in 2006. He is charged with a criminal sexual act in the first degree. * Another woman, whose identity has not been made public, has accused him of raping her in 2013. Here, he is charged with rape. On both allegations, Weinstein is additionally charged with predatory sexual assault. * Actress Annabella Sciorra (The Sopranos) has accused Weinstein of raping her in her home in 1993. This allegation is too old to be the basis of a separate charge. However, Sciorra’s allegations are part of the predatory sexual assault charges. What is predatory sexual assault? It is the most serious charge against Weinstein, with life imprisonment as the maximum punishment. Prosecutors will seek to establish a pattern of serious sex crimes against multiple women. These are expected to include Haleyi, Sciorra and the 2013 accuser. Additionally, other women may be called to testify against Weinstein. While Weinstein is not charged with crimes against them, their testimony can help build a prosecution case by showing that Weinstein had a consistent pattern of behaviour. Also likely to be called is Barbara Ziv, a professor at Temple University and an expert on the trauma resulting from sexual assault. What is Weinstein’s defence? Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and criminal sexual assault. He has claimed that his sexual encounters were consensual. Reuters quoted Weinstein’s lead lawyer, Donna Rotunno, as saying that Weinstein had a “slew of witnesses ready to go”. She has said the defence would be introducing emails and text messages to prove that Weinstein’s accusers maintained relationships with him after his alleged assaults. According to the Reuters report, his lawyers have also said they plan to call psychologist Deborah Davis, of the University of Nevada, to testify as an expert on memory. This suggests that Weinstein may try to raise questions over his accusers’ recollections. What makes the trial so significant? It will be a marker of the extent to which #MeToo has impacted the American justice system. It was the allegations against Weinstein that had given steam to the movement. For Weinstein himself, the trial will be seen as a referendum on how strong a comeback, if at all, he can make in the film production business. Beyond New York, Weinstein also faces separate criminal charges by prosecutors in Los Angeles. There, he was charged with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in 2013. Don't miss from Explained: The nominal GDP worry
