A surprise appearance from Gigi Hadid, the threat of
prison for an ill-judged tweet and
protests have plagued jury selection
A surprise appearance from a supermodel, the threat of prison for a tweet and the intense search for an impartial jury has turned the rape trial of
Harvey Weinstein into a spectacle in its early weeks and raised fears over the difficulty of picking an impartial jury.
The
New York supreme court called in 2,000 people as potential jurors for the case, which kicked off on 6 January. About 600 actually showed up to court, and the numbers have slowly been whittled down closer to the 12 jurors and six alternates the trial calls for. By Thursday afternoon, seven jurors had been confirmed. Opening arguments are set to take place 22 January.