Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape in Los Angeles trial | 24CA News
Harvey Weinstein was discovered responsible Monday of rape at a Los Angeles trial in one other #MeToo second of reckoning, 5 years after he grew to become a magnet for the motion.
After deliberating for 9 days spanning greater than two weeks, the jury of eight males and 4 ladies reached the decision on the second legal trial of the onetime highly effective film mogul, who is 2 years right into a 23-year sentence for a rape and sexual assault conviction in New York.
Weinstein, 70, was discovered responsible of rape, compelled oral copulation and one other sexual misconduct rely involving a lady often called Jane Doe 1. The jury was held on a number of counts, notably prices involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the spouse of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The jury reported it was unable to achieve verdicts in her allegations and the allegations of one other lady. A mistrial was declared on these counts.
Weinstein was additionally acquitted of a sexual battery allegation made by one other lady.
Weinstein appeared down on the desk and appeared to place his face in his arms when the preliminary responsible counts had been learn. He appeared ahead as the remainder of the decision was learn.
He faces as much as 24 years in jail when he’s sentenced. Prosecutors and defence attorneys had no quick touch upon the decision.
“Harvey Weinstein will never be able to rape another woman. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars where he belongs,” Siebel Newsom mentioned in a press release. “Throughout the trial, Weinstein’s lawyers used sexism, misogyny, and bullying tactics to intimidate, demean, and ridicule us survivors. The trial was a stark reminder that we as a society have work to do.”
“It is time for the defendant’s reign of terror to end,” Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez mentioned within the prosecution’s closing argument final week. “It is time for the kingmaker to be brought to justice.”
Lacking any forensic proof or eyewitness accounts of assaults Weinstein’s accusers mentioned occurred from 2005 to 2013, the case hinged closely on the tales and credibility of the 4 ladies on the centre of the costs.
Dramatic moments throughout trial
The accusers included Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker, whose intense and emotional testimony of being raped by Weinstein in a lodge room in 2005 introduced the trial its most dramatic moments.
Another was an Italian mannequin and actor who mentioned Weinstein appeared uninvited at her lodge room throughout a 2013 movie competition and raped her.
Lauren Young, the one accuser to testify at each Weinstein trials, mentioned she was a mannequin and aspiring actor and screenwriter when she met with Weinstein a few script in 2013. She mentioned he trapped her in a lodge lavatory, groped her and masturbated in entrance of her.
The jury was unable to achieve a verdict on the costs involving Young. Jurors advised the choose they had been 10-2 in favour of conviction on her rely, and 8-4 in favour of conviction on the 2 counts involving Siebel Newsom.
Jurors warned to not see She Said film
Martinez mentioned in her closing that the ladies entered Weinstein’s lodge suites or let him into their rooms, with no concept of what awaited them.
“Who would suspect that such an entertainment industry titan would be a degenerate rapist?” she mentioned.
The ladies’s tales echoed the allegations of dozens of others who’ve emerged since Weinstein grew to become a lightning rod for #MeToo allegations, beginning with tales within the New York Times in 2017.
A film about that reporting, She Said, was launched through the trial, and jurors had been repeatedly warned to not see it.
It was the defence that made #MeToo a difficulty through the trial, nevertheless, emphasizing that not one of the 4 ladies went to the authorities till after the motion made Weinstein a goal.
Defence mentioned accusers lied
Defence legal professionals mentioned two of the ladies had been totally mendacity about their encounters with Weinstein, and that the opposite two had “100 per cent consensual” sexual interactions that they later reframed.
“Regret is not the same thing as rape,” Weinstein lawyer Alan Jackson mentioned in his closing argument.
He urged jurors to look previous the the ladies’s emotional testimony and deal with the factual proof.
Jackson mentioned jurors had been being requested to imagine ladies ” ‘because we’re mad, believe us because we cried.’ ”
“Well, fury does not make fact. And tears do not make truth,” he mentioned.
All the ladies concerned within the prices glided by Jane Doe in courtroom. The Associated Press doesn’t sometimes identify individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused until they arrive ahead publicly or comply with be named by their attorneys, as the ladies named right here did.
Five years after it began, the ‘Me Too’ motion has left no trade untouched by allegations of sexual misconduct that emerged as ladies started to talk up about their experiences.
40 witnesses known as
Prosecutors known as 40 different witnesses in an try to present context and corroboration to these tales. Four had been different ladies who weren’t a part of the costs, however who testified that Weinstein raped or sexually assaulted them. They had been delivered to the stand to determine a sample of sexual predation.
Weinstein beat 4 different felony prices earlier than the trial even ended when prosecutors mentioned a lady he was charged with raping twice and sexually assaulting twice wouldn’t seem to testify. They declined to present a motive. Judge Lisa Lench dismissed these prices.
Weinstein’s newest conviction arms a victory to victims of sexual misconduct of well-known males within the wake of some authorized setbacks, together with the dismissal of Bill Cosby’s conviction final yr.
The rape trial of That ’70s Show actor Danny Masterson, held concurrently and simply down the corridor from Weinstein’s trial, resulted in a mistrial final week. And actor Kevin Spacey was victorious at a sexual battery civil trial in New York final month.
Weinstein’s New York conviction survived an preliminary attraction, however the case is about to be heard by the state’s highest courtroom subsequent yr. The California conviction, additionally more likely to be appealed, means he won’t stroll free even when the East Coast conviction is thrown out.
