No jurors picked on first day of Harvey Weinstein’s #MeToo retrial

NEW YORK (AP) — As jury selection began Tuesday in Harvey Weinstein’s New York City rape retrial, some prospective jurors made clear they couldn't be fair in judging the one-time Hollywood mogul-turned-#MeToo pariah.

Mark Axelowitz, an actor who plays a Manhattan prosecutor in the new Robert De Niro film “The Alto Knights,” was one of more than a dozen candidates who raised a hand when the judge asked if anyone felt they couldn't be impartial.

“I don’t like the guy, he is a really bad guy,” Axelowitz told a reporter after being dismissed from consideration.

Another dismissed prospective juror disqualified herself because she had previously been sexually assaulted. Yet another wondered whether anyone could be impartial.

The first day ended with no one chosen for the panel of 12 jurors and six alternates. Jury selection will resume Wednesday.

Weinstein is being tried again after New York’s highest court last year overturned his 2020 conviction and 23-year prison sentence and ordered a new trial, finding that improper rulings and prejudicial testimony tainted the original one.

That Court of Appeals ruling gave Weinstein a second chance to fight the charges, with his retrial playing out in a different atmosphere than the first, which was held amid a global reckoning over sexual misconduct.

Weinstein, 73, has pleaded not guilty and denies he raped or sexually assaulted anyone. He is older and more frail, in and out of the hospital regularly for a variety of health problems and far removed from his time among the most powerful men in show business.

Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said the ex-studio boss is "cautiously optimistic that when all the evidence is out, the jury will find that all of his relationships were consensual and therefore reach a verdict of not guilty.”

Even if he is acquitted, Weinstein won’t go free.

Weinstein is also appealing a 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles. His 16-year prison sentence in that case still stands, though his lawyers said he needs to be resentenced because the since-vacated New York conviction factored into how his punishment was calculated.

Weinstein is being retried on two charges from his original trial. He’s accused of raping an aspiring actor in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and a criminal sex act by forcing oral sex on a movie and TV production assistant in 2006.

He is also charged with one count of criminal sex act based on an allegation from a woman who was not a part of the original trial. That woman, who has asked not to be named publicly, alleges that Weinstein forced oral sex on her at a Manhattan hotel.

Speaking outside court on Tuesday, that accuser's lawyer, Lindsay Goldbrum, said one thing would become “crystal clear” from her client’s upcoming testimony at the trial: “This was not consensual. This was sexual assault with force.”

“I am confident that there will be justice in this case,” Goldbrum told reporters, adding that her client was resolved to testify. “It is important for women everywhere and for people who are victims of sexual assault everywhere that others pave the way and show their dedication in this fight against sexual assault.”

Judge Curtis Farber has set aside at least four days for jury selection and expects opening statements and the start of testimony next week.

The judge, prosecution and defense are working to whittle a massive pool of potential jurors down to the 18 people needed for the trial.

Selecting the jury involves bringing in around 80 potential jurors at a time for two basic screening questions. The first group was brought in late Tuesday morning after the sides ironed out some last-minute loose ends.

Along with the question about impartiality, the judge is also asking each group of prospective jurors for a show of hands from anyone who has work, family or other obligations that will prevent them from serving.

Anyone who raises a hand to either question will be sent home, Farber has said.

Those who remain will be seated in the jury box, 24 at a time, and asked additional questions about things like their education, work, and whether anyone they know is in law enforcement or has been a victim of a crime.

Prosecutors and Weinstein’s lawyers will each have 40 minutes to question each subset of 24 potential jurors. Often, lawyers will use that time to follow up on things raised in earlier questioning or zero in on concerns about potential biases.

Either side can ask the judge to dismiss a potential juror. If too many jurors are dismissed, another group will be brought in and the process will repeat until the full jury is seated.

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court for his retrial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court for his retrial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court for his retrial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court for his retrial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court for his retrial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Sarah Yenesel/Pool Photo via AP)

Former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court for his retrial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Tuesday, April 15, 2025. (Angela Weiss/Pool Photo via AP)

FILE - Harvey Weinstein appears for a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in New York. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool, File)

EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, pleaded guilty Monday to capital murder in a state district court.

Patrick Crusius will automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole in the massacre near the U.S.-Mexico border. The change of plea comes after local prosecutors took the death penalty off the table.

The attack on Aug. 3, 2019, was one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. Crusius has said he was targeting Hispanic shoppers when he opened fire at the Walmart, which was crowded with shoppers from both sides of the border.

El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya has said he decided not to seek the death penalty because a majority of victims’ relatives wanted the case to come to an end.

Crusius has already been sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms by a federal court after pleading guilty in 2023 to hate crimes and weapons charges.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

The gunman who killed 23 people in a racist attack at a Walmart in El Paso — one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history — is expected to accept a plea deal in a Texas court on Monday to avoid the death penalty.

Patrick Crusius has acknowledged he targeted Hispanics on Aug. 3, 2019, when he opened fire in a Walmart in the Texas border city that was crowded with weekend shoppers from the U.S. and Mexico.

Under the offer, Crusius would plead guilty to capital murder and receive life in prison with no possibility of parole, El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya has said.

Texas prosecutors have declined to pursue the death penalty. Montoya says that decision was driven by a majority of victims’ relatives who want the case to be over.

Crusius has already been sentenced to 90 consecutive life terms at the federal level after pleading guilty to hate crimes and weapons charges.

Crusius was expressionless before the hearing began at the El Paso County courthouse, which was under heightened security. Crusius wore a striped jumpsuit, shackles and a protective vest.

About 100 people from victims’ families were seated in the gallery behind a few rows reserved for media, prosecutors and Crusius' defense team.

If the plea arrangement proceeds, families will be able to give victim impact statements. Dozens of people made emotional statements during a similar hearing in federal court in 2023 that lasted for three days.

Crusius, a white community-college dropout, was 21 years old when police say he drove more than 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) to El Paso from his home near Dallas.

Not long after posting a racist rant online that warned of a Hispanic “invasion,” he opened fire with an AK-style rifle inside and outside the store. Crusius was arrested shortly after.

Joe Spencer, a defense attorney in the state and federal cases, said Crusius has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder that can be marked by hallucinations, delusions and mood swings, and has suffered from debilitating mental illness for most of his life.

“You are talking about an individual with a broken brain,” he said on Thursday.

The people who were killed at Walmart ranged in age from a 15-year-old high school athlete to elderly grandparents. They included immigrants, a retired city bus driver, a teacher, tradesmen including a former iron worker, and several Mexican nationals who had crossed the U.S. border on routine shopping trips.

Stengle contributed from Dallas.

FILE - Eddie Medina, 62, carries groceries he bought for his wife at the reopening of the Cielo Vista Walmart, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019, in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 12, 2019 photo, mourners visit the makeshift memorial near the Walmart in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio, File)

FILE - A woman is reflected in a picture as she looks at a makeshift memorial at the scene of a mass shooting at a shopping complex Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2019, in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

FILE - In this Thursday, May 21, 2020 photo, Vanessa Romero holds her son at a memorial service for the 23rd victim of the Aug. 3 Walmart shooting while wearing an "El Paso Strong" T-shirt and a face mask in El Paso, Texas. AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 3, 2019, photo Texas state police cars block the access to the Walmart store in the aftermath of a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton, File)