Northeast
Weinstein rape retrial to open, with majority-female jury
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Opening statements are set for Wednesday in former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s rape retrial, this time with a majority-female jury deciding the landmark #MeToo case.
After a dayslong selection process yielded a seven-woman, five-man jury and five alternate jurors by Monday, prosecutors and Weinstein’s lawyers finished choosing a sixth and final alternate on Tuesday. Alternates step in if a member of the main panel can’t see the trial through.
The main jury is more female than the five women and seven men who convicted Weinstein at his first trial five years ago. The verdict marked a signature moment for the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct, which had been fueled in 2017 by a slew of allegations against Weinstein, then a high-flying movie producer of a string of Oscar winners including “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love.”
But in a reversal that dismayed #MeToo activists, New York’s highest court last year overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction and 23-year prison sentence. The court found that the original trial judge allowed prejudicial testimony. That judge’s term expired in 2022, and he is no longer on the bench.
HARVEY WEINSTEIN’S TEAM STRESSES SEX CRIME RETRIAL COULD LEAD TO DEATH, REQUESTS HOSPITAL STAY
Weinstein, 73, has pleaded not guilty and denies raping or sexually assaulting anyone.
Drawn from Manhattan’s jury pool, the 12 members of the main jury for the New York retrial include a physics researcher, a photographer, a dietitian, a therapist, an investment bank software engineer and a fire safety director. Others have experience in real estate, TV commercials, debt collection, social work and other fields.
One has a high school equivalency degree. Others have master’s degrees. Some have served as jurors or grand jurors multiple times before; others, never.
Harvey Weinstein appears in state court in Manhattan as jury selection continues in his retrial on Monday, April 21, 2025 in New York. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)
Hundreds of other potential jurors were excused for reasons ranging from language barriers to strong opinions about Weinstein — “the first word that came in my head was ‘pig,’” said one man who was soon let go.
Those chosen were quizzed about their backgrounds, life experiences and various other points that could relate to their ability to be fair and impartial about the highly publicized case.
“You may hear sexual allegations here of a salacious nature — graphic, perhaps. Would hearing that indicate that … Mr. Weinstein must be guilty?” defense attorney Mike Cibella asked one prospective juror on Monday. The woman, who ultimately was chosen, answered no.
HARVEY WEINSTEIN MANDATED RESHOOTS MADE ACTRESS FEEL ‘SLIMY’
Prosecutor Shannon Lucey sought assurances that prospective jurors could put aside any position or feelings they had about the #MeToo movement.
“Is there anyone who is going to think of the movement and think, ‘OK, that’s just something that I have to keep in the back of my mind when I’m deciding this case’? Everyone can put that aside?” Lucey asked a group of 24 possible jurors. All indicated they could do so.
Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault retrial involves accusations from three women: an aspiring actor who said he raped her in 2013, and two women who made separate allegations of forced oral sex in 2006. One of the two wasn’t part of the original trial.
Meanwhile, Weinstein is challenging a separate 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles.
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New Hampshire
Lucas: Healey goes for ‘meddle’ of honor over NH ICE move
New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte has a point.
Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, especially when it comes to criminal illegal immigration.
Or, as Republican Ayotte put it to Massachusetts Democrat Gov. Maura Healey — “Get your own house in order, Maura.”
The flap was over Healey’s “demand” that Ayotte reject a proposed Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) regional Granite State site to house detained illegal immigrants, criminal and otherwise.
The empty warehouse facility in Merrimack near the Massachusetts border would be converted into a 400-bed detention facility – one of several large-scale facilities the agency is planning to erect across the country.
“This is outrageous and absolutely the wrong move for New Hampshire,” Healey said. Healey, born in Maryland, grew up in Hampton Falls, N.H.
Ayotte in effect told Healey to mind her own business, which is to run Massachusetts, not New Hampshire.
Besides, many of the criminal illegal immigrants to be temporarily housed at the New Hampshire facility will likely be from Massachusetts, having been waved into the country by Joe Biden and into the state by Healey.
And while Massachusetts is not an official sanctuary state —although Boston is — under Healey, Massachusetts acts like one.
And the state’s generous benefits — originally designed for Massachusetts residents — have made the state a haven for illegal immigrants who flocked to the state seeking these freebies which, of course, cost Massachusetts taxpayers billions.
So It is no wonder that Healey is opposed to cutting the state income tax from from 5% to 4%, which will be on the 2026 ballot for voter consideration.
She needs the money to pay for those benefits.
Massachusetts has been a good deal for illegal immigrants. It is also why they have not descended on New Hampshire which, to say the least, is not as generous to illegal immigrants as is Massachusetts. New Hampshire has no sanctuary cities.
And, unlike Massachusetts, New Hampshire supports local police officials cooperating with ICE.
Illegal immigrants in Massachusetts are protected from ICE. If left-wing judges are not letting them evade ICE from the back door of courthouses, Healey is seeking to outright ban ICE from the courthouses.
She says ICE is made up of “rogue” agents who are breaking the law and causing “devastation” and “harm.” She has joined the chorus of Democrats calling for its defunding.
If Healey were so concerned about law enforcement officials breaking the law, she would also call for the defunding of the Massachusetts State Police. More state cops have been sent to prison under her watch than ICE agents.
All the while Healey has “demanded” that fellow Gov. Ayotte “do everything in her power to block a new ICE facility in New Hampshire.”
Of the demand, Ayotte told the Globe, “New England is in this position because Governor Healey and Massachusetts created a billion-dollar illegal immigrant crisis in our region.”
There is no love lost between the two governors.
Healey went to extraordinary efforts to defeat Ayotte in the last gubernatorial election. She raised money and actively campaigned in New Hampshire for Ayotte’s progressive Democrat opponent Joyce Craig, the former mayor of Manchester, who lost.
Ayotte’s campaign slogan was: “Don’t MASS up New Hampshire.”
Veteran political reporter Peter Lucas can be reached at: peter.lucas@bostonherald.com.
New Jersey
NJ man arrested after hiding camera inside barbershop bathroom, police claim
A New Jersey man has been arrested and charged after, police claim, he hid a camera inside a bathroom at a barbershop in Mantua Township.
According to police, on Feb. 13, 2026, the owner of Gino’s Barbershop contacted officials after he discovered a “spy camera” hidden inside a restroom at the shop.
An investigation led police to apprehend Richard Doerrmann, 55, from Mickleton, New Jersey, officials said.
Doerrmann, was employed as a barber at the establishment, and police claim he is alleged to have placed spy cameras in bathrooms at the barbershop “on multiple occasions.”
Following his arrest, Doerrmann has been charged with invasion of privacy and related offenses, officials said.
An investigation into this incident is ongoing and, officials are asking anyone who may have information in this case to contact Detective Corporal Jeffrey Krieger at jkrieger@mantuatownship.com.
Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania school district cancels contract with photo company after Epstein connections
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