The sequel to the biggest victory of the #MeToo era begins today, when disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein will be tried again in New York for alleged sex crimes.

Judge Curtis Farber said the hearing could take five days to assemble a jury.

In 2020, a jury in the same court convicted Weinstein of sexual assault, after which New York's highest court overturned the conviction, deciding that the judge had improperly admitted some testimony from women whose accusations were not part of the criminal charges.

His lawyers said they hoped the changing political climate would make the outcome of Weinstein's second trial in New York different from the first.

The 73-year-old Weinstein pleaded not guilty to all charges, including a new charge from a woman who appeared after the sentencing.

One of the women alleged that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006. A then budding actress claimed she was raped in 2013. The new accuser alleges that Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex in a Manhattan hotel room in 2006.

The defense accused prosecutors of withholding the new accuser's account as insurance, but prosecutors denied that and the judge refused to dismiss the case.

The alleged victims who testified will no longer be called survivors after the judge granted a defense request to call Weinstein's accusers as witnesses to the complaints. They are expected to testify under their real names.

Judge Farber granted the Manhattan District Attorney's request to call a witness who is an expert on the psychological effects of rape.

The decision to retry Weinstein rests with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who has changed the way his office handles sex crimes. The Special Victims Unit successfully prosecuted a man who raped two young women at knifepoint after responding to their online ads for commercial sex, a man who raped a cleaning lady in the building where he worked as a manager, and a man who sexually assaulted two children living in the shelter where he worked.

Weinstein, who appeared in court in a wheelchair, is suing New York for his treatment and wonders if he will survive a second trial while he is locked up in the "hellhole" of Rikers Island. | BGNES