For more than a month, witnesses gave vivid testimony about how former film producer Harvey Weinstein lured women to private meetings in hotel rooms and quickly turned violent.
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For more than a month, witnesses gave vivid testimony about how former film producer Harvey Weinstein lured women to private meetings in hotel rooms and quickly turned violent.
Photo of Etienne Laurent-Pool/Getty
Harvey Weinstein, once one of Hollywood’s most powerful men whose many sex crimes helped spark the #metoo movement, has been convicted of three of seven counts in his sex offender trial. for the second time, this time in Los Angeles. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the three charges. The 70-year-old has already served 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault in New York.
Weinstein was charged with seven counts of raping and sexually assaulting four women between 2004 and 2013: a model, a dancer, a massage therapist and a producer. He was initially charged with four more countsbut those were dismissed when prosecutors said they were “unable to proceed” with the charges of a woman identified as Jane Doe 5.
‘Casting couch culture’ to protect
During the trial, Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson described Weinstein as a “predator,” a “monster,” a once-dominant media mogul at the top of his game who used the fame of his game. in the film industry to force ambitious young women into private meetings quickly. become violent. During more than a month in court, eight former models and actors vividly described Weinstein assaulting them in various hotel rooms.
An overview of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center for the Weinstein trial in Los Angeles.
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“In 2005, who would have thought that the most powerful man in Hollywood would be a closet rapist?” asked Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez during the final argument. “We know the despicable behavior the defendant committed. He thinks he has such power that people will forgive his behavior. Harvey is still Harvey. It’s just Hollywood. And that’s it. is something that people have been doing for a long time. People just turned their heads.”
She projected images of wolves and bear traps representing Weinstein and added, “Time to bring the kingpin to justice.”
Weinstein denied any wrongdoing and did not testify during the trial. His lawyers have called at least one of his accusers “bim bim” and claimed the women had agreed to “sexual dealings” with Weinstein to advance their careers in Hollywood. . “In Hollywood, sex is a commodity,” Weinstein’s attorney Mark Werksman told the jury, saying Weinstein’s actions were part of “couch culture.”
Weinstein’s defense attempted to discredit the women’s testimony as “unreliable” and in the final argument, attorney Alan Jackson called them “researchers of fame and fortune.” lucky”.
Jackson told jurors to go through the emotional testimony. “Tears,” he said, “do not make the truth.”
The four defendants testified
One of Weinstein’s accusers was Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom. During the trial, she tearfully told the jury about what she called a “nightmare” encounter with him nearly 20 years ago, when she was an aspiring actress and filmmaker. hope. Newsom testified that Weinstein invited her to meet to discuss her career at a hotel in Beverly Hills. She vividly describes how he pushed her into bed and raped her.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom testified in Los Angeles.
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Bill Robles / AP
After the verdict was delivered, Jennifer Newsom released a statement saying “Harvey Weinstein will never be able to rape another woman. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars where he is. belong. Harvey Weinstein was a serial predator and what he did was rape.
“Throughout the trial, Weinstein’s attorneys used sexist, misogynist and bullying tactics to intimidate, demean and mock survivors like us. This is a stark reminder that we as a society have a lot to do. To all the survivors out there — I understand you, I hear you, and I stand with you. Friend.”
Other women identified as “Jane Doe” include a licensed massage therapy model and actress Natassia Malthe, who detailed an alleged assault inside a hotel in New York. London.
According to prosecutors, the accusers also described “abnormalities” on Weinstein’s genitals, “as a result of surgery the defendant performed in 1999 that left a noticeable scar.” .
Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez was a witness in the trial, testifying about his “previous bad deeds”. In 2015, she filed a police report that prompted sex crime prosecutors to investigate Weinstein. Gutierrez was part of a stinging campaign for the New York Police Department; she agreed to wear a strap to record Weinstein. The Manhattan District Attorney at the time did not indict him, but the recording was played to jurors in Los Angeles.
Two years after Gutierrez’s initial police report, multiple charges against Weinstein were made public, with the investigative report of New York Times and New Yorkers. More than 100 women gave heartbreaking accounts of the film’s executive.
News spark the #MeToo movement, drawing attention to sexual abuse and sexual harassment in the workplace, not only in Hollywood, but in society as a whole. That movement exposed the sexual misconduct of very powerful men in business, politics and entertainment.
What’s next for Weinstein?
Weinstein’s legal troubles are far from over.
In London, he faces criminal charges for indecent assault on a woman in 1996. His lawyers are currently appealing the New York conviction, so his Los Angeles conviction he could mean he’s behind bars for the rest of his life.
