Opening statements in Harvey Weinstein바카라 게임 웹사이트�s #MeToo rape retrial began Wednesday with a prosecutor telling jurors about the three allegations at issue in the case, including one involving a woman who wasn바카라 게임 웹사이트�t part of the original trial in 2020. Weinstein바카라 게임 웹사이트�s lawyer countered that the women and the one-time Hollywood powerbroker had consensual relationships.Kaja Sokola, a former model from Poland, alleges that Weinstein pinned her to a bed and forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006 after luring her to his Manhattan hotel room with the promise of movie scripts. Four years earlier, Sokola alleges, he molested her at his apartment when she was just 16, Assistant District Attorney Shannon Lucey told jurors.Weinstein, 73, is charged in connection with the 2006 allegation, but not the earlier one. Sokola previously sued and received $3.5 million in compensation, Lucey said.It's the first time Manhattan prosecutors have detailed Sokola바카라 게임 웹사이트�s allegations, which were added to the case after New York바카라 게임 웹사이트�s highest court overturned Weinstein's conviction last year. The rest of the retrial involves allegations from two women who were part of the original trial 바카라 게임 웹사이트� Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann.The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named, as Haley, Mann and Sokola have done.Emphasizing Weinstein바카라 게임 웹사이트�s onetime influence in the movie industry, Lucey said the ex-studio boss used 바카라 게임 웹사이트�dream opportunities as weapons바카라 게임 웹사이트� to prey on women. He is charged with raping Mann and forcing oral sex on Haley and Sokola.바카라 게임 웹사이트�The defendant wanted their bodies, and the more they resisted, the more forceful he got,바카라 게임 웹사이트� Lucey said.Weinstein, she said, 바카라 게임 웹사이트�held the golden ticket: a chance to make it, or not."The Oscar-winning producer, seated in the wheelchair he now uses because of health problems, whispered with one of his lawyers and appeared to take notes as Lucey described his alleged crimes, but he didn't look at the jury.Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denies raping or sexually assaulting anyone.His lawyer, Arthur Aidala, told jurors in his opening statement that Weinstein engaged in 바카라 게임 웹사이트�mutually beneficial relationships바카라 게임 웹사이트� with women who wanted his help in the industry but that nothing he did was illegal.바카라 게임 웹사이트�In this case, the casting couch is not a crime scene," Aidala argued.He implored jurors to view the case with an open mind and to wait until they've heard all of the evidence before reaching a conclusion. Acknowledging Weinstein바카라 게임 웹사이트�s former career, Aidala compared the opening stage of the trial to a movie trailer.바카라 게임 웹사이트�How often is a preview great, but the movie falls flat on its face?바카라 게임 웹사이트� the defense lawyer said. "After you hear all of the evidence, their case is going to fall flat on its face.바카라 게임 웹사이트�The audience in the packed courtroom included Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He inherited the landmark #MeToo case, brought by his predecessor, when the Court of Appeals last year threw out the 2020 conviction and 23-year prison sentence because the judge allowed testimony about allegations Weinstein was not charged with. The reversal led to the retrial.Weinstein바카라 게임 웹사이트�s retrial is playing out at a different cultural moment than the first. #MeToo, which exploded in 2017 with allegations against Weinstein, has evolved and ebbed.The jury counts seven women and five men 바카라 게임 웹사이트� unlike the seven-man, five-woman panel that convicted him in 2020 바카라 게임 웹사이트� and there's a different judge.At the start of Weinstein바카라 게임 웹사이트�s first trial, chants of 바카라 게임 웹사이트�rapist바카라 게임 웹사이트� could be heard from protesters outside. This time, there was none of that.Weinstein is being retried on a criminal sex act charge for allegedly forcibly performing oral sex on Haley, a movie and TV production assistant at the time, in 2006, and a third-degree rape charge for allegedly assaulting Mann, a then-aspiring actor, in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.Weinstein also faces a criminal sex act charge for allegedly forcing oral sex on Sokola, also in 2006. Prosecutors said she came forward days before his first trial but wasn바카라 게임 웹사이트�t part of that case. They said they revisited her allegations when his conviction was thrown out.Weinstein바카라 게임 웹사이트�s acquittals on the two most serious charges at his 2020 trial 바카라 게임 웹사이트� predatory sexual assault and first-degree rape 바카라 게임 웹사이트� still stand.Sokola's lawyer, Lindsay Goldbrum, said Weinstein바카라 게임 웹사이트�s retrial marks a 바카라 게임 웹사이트�pivotal moment in the fight for accountability in sex abuse cases바카라 게임 웹사이트� and a 바카라 게임 웹사이트�signal to other survivors that the system is catching up 바카라 게임 웹사이트� and that it바카라 게임 웹사이트�s worth speaking out even when the odds seem insurmountable.바카라 게임 웹사이트�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.