Kaja Sokola, a former model from Poland, claims that Weinstein restrained her on a bed and forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006, after enticing her to his Manhattan hotel room under the pretense of discussing movie scripts.
At the start of Weinstein’s first trial, chants of “rapist” could be heard from protesters outside. This time, there was none of that.
Weinstein is undergoing retrial for a criminal sex act charge for allegedly forcibly performing oral sex on Haley, who was a movie and TV production assistant in 2006, along with a third-degree rape charge for allegedly assaulting Mann, a then-aspiring actress, in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.
Weinstein is also facing a criminal sex act charge in connection with allegedly forcing oral sex on Sokola in 2006 as well. Prosecutors stated that Sokola came forward days before his initial trial but was not included in that case. They revisited her allegations when his conviction was overturned.
Weinstein’s acquittals on the two most serious charges at his 2020 trial — predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape — still stand.
Sokola’s lawyer, Lindsay Goldbrum, said Weinstein’s retrial marks a “pivotal moment in the fight for accountability in sex abuse cases” and a “signal to other survivors that the system is catching up — and that it’s worth speaking out even when the odds seem insurmountable.”
During jury selection, a prosecutor asked prospective jurors whether they’d heard of the #MeToo movement. Most said they had, but that it wouldn’t affect them either way.
Those who indicated it might were excused.
