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Weinstein rape retrial to open, with majority-female jury

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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.

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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)

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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.

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“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 York

Read the Indictment of Malik Beasley

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Read the Indictment of Malik Beasley

65.

In or about and between December 2023 and April 2024, both dates being approximate and inclusive, within the Eastern District of New York and elsewhere, the defendants MALIK BEASLEY, also known as “Beas,” “Bease,” “MB” and “5,” WILLIAM BROWN, also known as “Willo,” EDWARD DAVIS, also known as “Ed,” “ED” and “E Davis,” ROBERT GORODETSKY, also known as “Rob,” ERNESTO PLASCENCIA, also known as “Ernie,” “Erny,” “Ernie P” and “Erny P,” and PAOLO ZAMORANO, also known as “PZ,”
together with others, did knowingly and intentionally conspire:

(a)

to conduct one or more financial transactions in and affecting
interstate commerce, which transactions in fact involved the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, to wit: (i) wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 and (ii) sports bribery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 224, knowing that the property involved in the transactions represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, and with the intent to promote the carrying on of the specified unlawful activity, contrary to Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956(a)(1)(A)(i);

(b)

to conduct one or more financial transactions in and affecting interstate commerce, which transactions in fact involved the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, to wit: (i) wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 and (ii) sports bribery, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 224, knowing that the property involved in the transactions represented the proceeds of some form of unlawful activity, and knowing that the transactions were designed in whole and in part to conceal and disguise the

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Boston, MA

Scottish soccer fan who died in Boston was ‘Tartan Army to his core,’ fundraising page says – The Boston Globe

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Scottish soccer fan who died in Boston was ‘Tartan Army to his core,’ fundraising page says – The Boston Globe


A Scottish man who died after collapsing outside a Boston pub while visiting for the World Cup is being remembered as a devoted soccer fan who was “Tartan Army to his core.”

Thomas Murty, known as “Tam,” died June 19 after collapsing near The Dubliner pub in downtown Boston a day earlier, according to a GoFundMe fundraising campaign to return Murty’s body to Scotland and pay for funeral expenses. Murty was born in 1963.

“Tam was Scotland daft his whole life,” the GoFundMe page reads. “He lived for it — the highs, the heartbreaks, the songs, the hope that never died no matter how many years went by. Following Scotland wasn’t just something he did; it was who he was.”

Murty had waited three decades to see Scotland play in the World Cup. Watching the Scottish team compete in the tournament was “the dream of a lifetime,” the fundraising page said.

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Oram McGonagle, who owns The Dubliner, said he was at the pub when Murty collapsed. He said he saw a Scottish fan with an oxygen tube standing by a pillar outside the building. McGonagle said employees called an ambulance when they realized he needed help.

Caitlin McLaughlin, public relations director for Boston EMS, confirmed that medics took a patient from The Dubliner to an area hospital around 4:30 p.m. that day.

McGonagle later learned from a media report that Murty had died.

The Dubliner has donated 1,000 pounds, or about $1,325, to the fundraiser.

“We had a really good few weeks with the Scottish people,” McGonagle said Monday. “This felt like a way to give some back to them.”

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Murty is the second Scottish soccer fan known to have died in Boston while visiting for the World Cup tournament. Donny Strathie, 76, died June 14 after collapsing in a hotel in Norwood. Fans paid tribute to Strathie in the 76th minute of Scotland’s game against Morocco in Foxborough on June 19.

About 2,800 people have donated more than $85,000 to the GoFundMe campaign set up for Murty’s family, as of Monday afternoon.


Ariela Lopez can be reached at ariela.lopez@globe.com. Follow her on X @ariela__lopez.





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Pittsburg, PA

Tech community to Shapiro and Pennsylvania legislators: Wait on data center rules

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Tech community to Shapiro and Pennsylvania legislators: Wait on data center rules






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