Harvey Weinstein’s Third Rape Trial on the Same Charge Kicks Off in Manhattan, and Deepak Chopra Is on the Witness List

The third New York trial against film producer Harvey Weinstein began on Tuesday morning. It’s the third time a jury will hear the accusation from the former aspiring actress Jessica Mann that the disgraced movie mogul with raping her at a Manhattan hotel in 2013. “If you had seen these girls you would have done the exact same thing,” Weinstein allegedly told a court officer in 2020, a Manhattan assistant district attorney, Candace White, said in the court on Tuesday. According to Ms. White, last week the Manhattan district attorney’s office was informed by someone about the incriminating statement Weinstein allegedly made six years ago while he was in a holding cell waiting for his first trial.The presiding judge, Curtis Faber, questioned why it had taken so many years for the comment to surface. The defense attorneys urged the judge not to allow the comment to be mentioned during this trial. But prosecutors said they did not intend to do so unless Weinstein were to testify in his own defense. If the Oscar-winning producer were to take the stand, prosecutors would then hold a separate hearing to discuss the comment and how it can be raised. Almost one hundred women accused Weinstein of rape and sexual harassment after the actress Ashley Judd detailed to the New York Times in October 2017 about how Weinstein had made unwanted advances and then damaged her career. The Times article, which alleged years of sexual misconduct – and cover-up – by Weinstein, launched the #MeToo movement. Prominent actresses like Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow spoke out against the producer. Yet Weinstein denied all charges and allegations and has continued to do so until this day, insisting all sexual acts were consentual. Witness Jessica Mann (C) arrives at Criminal Court for Harvey Weinstein’s retrial in Manhattan on May 22, 2025 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesIn 2020, he faced his first trial at Manhattan criminal court on five sex crime charges. The jury acquitted him on three counts, including the two most serious charges against him of predatory sexual assault. He was convicted, however, on the third-degree-rape charge brought by Jessica Mann, and on a sexual crime act brought by a former production assistant, Miriam Haley. The judge sentenced him to 23 years in prison.Then, in 2024, Weinstein scored a landmark victory when New York’s Court of Appeals overturned those convictions and ordered a new trial. The court had found that the trial judge wrongly admitted testimony against Weinstein based on vivid allegations from women – including “Sopranos” star Annabella Sciorra – who were not part of the indictment. Weinstein remained incarcerated because he was also convicted in California for sex crimes and sentenced there to 16 years in prison. He is currently being held at the infirmary on New York’s notorious Rikers Island, where he recently told an interviewer he is dying. His lawyers say he has cancer, diabetes and various other ailments.Former Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in Manhattan Supreme Court during his retrial on April 14, 2026. Steven Hirsch – Pool/Getty ImagesWeinstein’s second trial took place at Manhattan criminal court in the spring of 2025. The Manhattan jury rendered a split verdict on the three-count indictment. Weinstein was acquitted of a new rape charge – regarding a Polish former model, Kaja Sokola, who alleged that the producer forcibly performed oral sex on her at a Manhattan hotel room in 2006. But he was convicted again of the sex crime, involving Ms. Haley, who claimed he forcibly performed unwanted oral sex on her at his Manhattan apartment, also in 2006. But Ms. Mann’s accusation of third-degree rape remained unresolved. The judge declared a mistrial after the jury’s foreman declined to return to the deliberation room, stating on the record that deliberations had become intolerable for him. After Weinstein refused to take a guilty plea, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office decided to go to trial for a third time. On Tuesday, the judge began with jury selection. He read the candidates the witness list to see if anyone was familiar with any of the witnesses. One of the names on that list was the renowned Indian-American wellness expert Deepak Chopra. The physician and author recently made headlines after his name was discovered in the files related to the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The Justice Department released hundreds of pages of email correspondence between Mr. Chopra and Epstein, spanning from 2016 to 2019. The emails include mentioning of “Epstein’s girls,” invitation to Mr. Chopra’s speaking events and discussion of Mr. Chopra possibly spending the night at Epstein’s house. Mr. Chopra said in a statement on February 4 on X that he was “never involved nor did I participate in any criminal or exploitative conduct.” Jury selection for Weinstein’s trial will resume on Wednesday. The trial is expected to last about four weeks and hear testimony from about twenty witnesses, including the alleged victim Ms. Mann.

Harvey Weinstein’s Third Rape Trial on the Same Charge Kicks Off in Manhattan, and Deepak Chopra Is on the Witness List

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