The disgraced producer will still be sitting in a Lower Manhattan courtroom after all when his criminal trial starts on Jan. 6, 2020’s criminal trial starts on January 6 next year, the proceedings that could see the disgraced producer behind bars for the rest of his life will still be occurring in Lower Manhattan, a New York court ruled today.
“It is ordered that the motion is denied in its entirety,” said a order entered Thursday in the First Department Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York. The order effectively shuts down the attempt by Weinstein and his lawyers to move the venue or halt the matter. “It is safe to say that New York City is the least likely place on earth where Mr. Weinstein could receive a fair trial, where jurors could hear evidence, deliberate, and render a verdict in an atmosphere free of intimidation from pressure to deliver a result that the politicians, the activists, the celebrities and the media demand,” read an August 16 Hail Mary filing by Weinstein’s attorney Arthur Aidala to shift the trial or even be granted a stay.