Opening statements are expected to begin on Monday in the Los Angeles trial of Harvey Weinstein.
Already a serving a 23-year sentence for a conviction in New York, the 70-year-old former movie magnate is charged with four counts of rape and seven counts of sexual assault in a trial that is expected to last six weeks.
A jury of nine men and three women was sworn in on Thursday.
Weinstein is more than two years into a sentence for a 2020 conviction for rape and sexual assault in New York. The state’s highest court has agreed to hear his appeal in that case.
In Los Angeles, Weinstein faces a trial in the city where he was once a colossus during Hollywood’s awards season and at the Oscars.
The five accusers who will testify in the case are expected to be identified only as Jane Doe.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom, an actor and documentary filmmaker who is married to California Governor Gavin Newsom, is among the accusers. Through her lawyer she has waived her right to anonymity.
The trial opened two weeks ago with jury selection, five years after women’s stories about Weinstein gave massive momentum to the #MeToo movement.
