Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is headed for trial this week on narrow charges that he sexually assaulted two women. But the trial, of the man whose alleged actions helped to spawn the #MeToo movement, is being closely watched, with cultural implications that go beyond its legal ones.
The sexual-misconduct allegations against Mr. Weinstein, first reported by the New York Times and the New Yorker magazine in 2017, helped release a flood of accusations against other men, many from women who had remained silent for decades. Mr. Weinstein’s trial, which is expected to last about two months, is set to begin on Monday in state court in Manhattan.
If found guilty, Mr. Weinstein faces up to life in prison.
Mr. Weinstein, who believes he has been treated unfairly, has repeatedly denied having nonconsensual sex and said his accomplishments have been forgotten. “I made more movies directed by women and about women than any filmmaker,” he told the New York Post in December.
Mr. Weinstein has been publicly accused of sexual misconduct by more than 80 women. Inside the courtroom, he faces five criminal counts: two counts of rape, one count of criminal sexual act and two counts of predatory sexual assault, a felony that includes committing sex crimes against multiple people. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The charges revolve around different alleged incidents with two women. A former production assistant, Mimi Haleyi, alleges that Mr. Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006 at his Manhattan apartment. A second, unnamed accuser says the Hollywood producer raped her at a Manhattan hotel in 2013.
The account of a third woman, “The Sopranos” actress Annabella Sciorra, is expected to be used to bolster a predatory-sexual-assault count. Ms. Sciorra claims Mr. Weinstein raped her in her Manhattan apartment during the early 1990s.
The judge has also allowed testimony from three women who say they were assaulted by Mr. Weinstein but aren’t part of the charges. These women are expected to present evidence that prosecutors say will help establish a pattern of behavior. Prosecutors rarely use the tactic because it can unfairly prejudice a jury, though it was employed in the second sexual-assault trial of entertainer Bill Cosby, who was convicted in 2018.
After some logistical matters Monday, the lawyers on Tuesday will turn to jury selection, which will likely take several weeks.
Lawyers for Mr. Weinstein are expected to argue that sex with his accusers was consensual. In legal filings, his former lawyers had suggested that they would use his accusers’ text messages and emails to undermine their accounts.
In one message, sent several months after the alleged rape, Ms. Haleyi texted Mr. Weinstein’s phone, writing: “Hi! Just wondering if u have any news on whether harvey will have time to see me before he leaves? x Miriam.” She signed another message, “Lots of love.”
A lawyer for Ms. Haleyi didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Weinstein’s pivotal role in the #MeToo movement has resulted in outsize cultural interest in the trial.
Supporters of the #MeToo movement are looking to the case for legal affirmation, said Rebecca Roiphe, a New York Law School professor and former Manhattan prosecutor.
“Especially after Epstein’s suicide, the left is looking for a legal win, for a situation in which they can say, ‘Our cultural movement is going to have a broader effect now because there’s a strong message sent from the courtroom,’” Prof. Roiphe said, referring to the financier Jeffrey Epstein, who apparently killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell rather than face trial on charges of sex trafficking.
Some lawyers feared that an acquittal could have a chilling effect on accusers’ willingness to cooperate with future prosecutions.
“If Weinstein wins this criminal trial and he puts these victims through the wringer, it will discourage other victims from coming forward in the future,” said David Ring, a Los Angeles sex-abuse lawyer who represents a Weinstein accuser who isn’t part of the Manhattan case. “They’ll say, ‘What’s the point?’”
Sex-crime charges can be extremely difficult to prove. Older claims, such as those in the Weinstein case, typically lack forensic evidence since accusers didn’t immediately report the incidents or see a doctor. Evidence often rests on “he said she said” accounts and people whom an accuser may have spoken to after an alleged incident.
Cultural issues aside, the verdict will hinge on the specific charges at trial, which carry a high burden of proof, said Elizabeth Tippett, a University of Oregon law professor who studies #MeToo’s legal implications.
“If the trial does not resolve in a way that holds Weinstein accountable, it might be easy to forget that it happened in a particular procedural context,” she said.
Write to Corinne Ramey at Corinne.Ramey@wsj.com
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