Harvey Weinstein showed signs of confidence after the first day of deliberations in his sex crimes trial Tuesday, telling reporters outside the courtroom that he felt “good.”
The deliberations began with the judge instructing jurors to use common sense.
About a half hour later, they returned with a series of questions, including clarification of what constitutes consent and what constitutes each charge he faces, including rape and predatory sexual assault.
The disgraced Hollywood heavyweight is charged with five felony counts based on the testimony of former production assistant Mimi Haleyi, who claims Weinstein sexually assaulted her in 2006, and aspiring actress Jessica Mann, who claims Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel suite in 2013.
A third accuser, actress Annabella Sciorra, testified Weinstein raped her in late 1993 or early 94.
That rape allegation is too old to prosecute, but the judge allowed her testimony to support charges of predatory sexual assault, which require prosecutors to prove that Weinstein attacked at least two women.
The judge also ordered Weinstein's attorneys not to speak with the press. This comes after Defense Attorney Donna Rotunno wrote an opinion piece for Newsweek last Friday urging jurors to acquit the movie mogul. Prosecutors called Rotunno's behavior "100% inappropriate."
Civil Attorney Gloria Allred represents Sciorra and Mann.
“Perhaps she feels the court of public opinion is going to influence the juries, which it should not. And they have been instructed previously not to decide this case based on anything in the press,” Allred said.
Meanwhile, defense attorneys tried to get juror number eleven, a novelist, tossed from the case. They complained that during the trial she reviewed a book about a relationship between a woman and an older man who's a predator. The judge did not dismiss the juror.
The 12 jurors are a racially diverse group made up of seven men and five women.
The three alternate jurors were allowed to go home, but the judge told them not to speak to anyone about the trial just in case they need to be called to replace one of the main jurors.
In order to convict or acquit Weinstein on any of the charges, jurors must reach a unanimous decision.
If convicted on the top charge, Weinstein could get life in prison.