Why wasn’t Harvey Weinstein jailed ahead of trial? His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, negotiated a bail package with the district attorney’s office in advance of the arrest and Judge Kevin McGrath agreed to it. In New York, the only question a judge may consider in weighing bail is risk of flight, not whether the defendant poses a threat to the community. In this case, prosecutors agreed to let him remain free if he posted $1 million in bail, wore a tracking device, surrendered his passport and agreed not to travel outside of New York and Connecticut. He has no previous record of arrests, and the measures are considered enough to ensure he will show up to his court dates. Defendants who do not have the money or assets to post bail usually end up held on Rikers Island to await trial.



How soon will he go on trial? It is hard to predict, but it could be more than a year. For starters, a grand jury has yet to indict Mr. Weinstein. That must happen within six months. By law, there are deadlines intended to speed things along. But both sides often waive those deadlines in high-profile cases.

What happens now? Mr. Weinstein is set to appear next in Criminal Court in Manhattan on July 30, when he’ll learn whether a grand jury has indicted him. If it has, then he will be arraigned in State Supreme Court in Manhattan and the long run-up to a trial begins.

Who will the judge be? At his July appearance, one of several criminal court judges covering that day will preside. Afterward, the case will likely be referred to Justice James Burke, who handles most of the cases brought by the sex crimes bureau of the Manhattan district attorney’s office. But a final decision about which Supreme Court justice gets the case belongs to the administrative judge, Justice Ellen Biben.