Chaos erupted in the Harvey Weinstein trial once again on Tuesday as jury selection entered it’s sixth tumultuous day in New York City.
Weinstein arrived at court this morning with his attorney Donna Rotunno, who told TMZ that the disgraced Hollywood mogul’s team is already preparing an appeal should he be convicted.
They don’t think there’s a chance of him receiving a fair trial under the current circumstances.
In explaining why she doesn’t think her client can be tried fairly in New York, Rotunno cited Judge James Burke’s refusal to delay Weinstein’s trial despite his team filing a motion asking for it to be moved back in order to give the public a “cooling off period” to digest the new sex charges filed against him in Los Angeles.
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The judge refused to grant the defense’s motion to delay the trial, however, arguing that all jurors will know that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
This comes after Weinstein’s lawyers filed another motion to remove Burke from the case after he threatened to have the former producer jailed for texting in his courtroom.
“Is this really the way you want to end up in jail for the rest of your life, by texting in violation of an order? Is it?” Burke asked Weinstein.
The judge later said he threatened Weinstein for being “notably non-compliant, defiant and challenging to court officers.”
Burke also shut this motion down, telling the court, “There’s nothing prejudicial or inflammatory about scolding a recalcitrant defendant for repeated violations of a court order if using strong and even hyperbolic language succeeds after stern admonitions have failed.”
This week, it was revealed that one of the 120 potential jurors in this case is supermodel Gigi Hadid, who told the judge that she will be able to “keep an open mind on the facts” on this case, according to Daily Mail.
Hadid, 24, claimed that while she has met Weinstein in the past, she will be able to remain impartial should she be chosen as a juror.
Weinstein is facing life in prison on various charges related to allegedly assaulting two women.
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He has pled not guilty to all charges against him, and his trial could last as long as two months.
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