A Los Angeles trial for a sexual assault charge against a New Yorker in the 1980s, when the jury ruled against Weinstein
Weinstein has denied all accusations against him, as the trial in Los Angeles is about to start. New York’s highest court in August agreed to hear his appeal challenging his 2020 conviction on sex crime charges.
The trial will take place at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles. It’s expected to last eight weeks, says The Associated Press.
Weinstein – who is already serving a 23-year sentence for a New York sexual assault conviction – could face 60 years to life in prison, plus an additional five years, if the jury in Los Angeles finds him guilty.
Weinstein allegedly raped a woman at a hotel between September 2004 and September 2005, according to prosecutors. He is also facing accusations that he raped another woman on two separate occasions in November 2009 and November 2010 at a hotel in Beverly Hills. Weinstein is accused of sexually assault another woman in 2010 at a Beverly Hills hotel and of also sexually assault two other women on seperate occasions in the same year.
Weinstein denied all wrongdoing and did not testify during the trial. His attorneys called at least one of his accusers a “bimbo,” and claimed the women had agreed to “transactional sex” with Weinstein in order to advance their careers in Hollywood. Mark Werksman told the jury that sex was a commodity in Hollywood, and that Weinstein’s actions were part of acasting couch culture.
Only 24 reporters, including two sketch artists, can be inside the courtroom each day, according to the AP. In New York, dozens were allowed inside to monitor the trial.
The second sex crimes trial of Harvey Weinstein. Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker, actress and the wife of Gavin Newsom
He had been kicked out of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences after he was nominated for more than 340 Academy Awards and won 81 of them.
LOS ANGELES — The second sex crimes trial of Harvey Weinstein is underway in Los Angeles and among the witnesses expected to testify is Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker, former actress and the wife of California’s governor, Gavin Newsom.
Harvey Weinstein destroyed a part of me that night. Jane is saying in a statement that she will never get that back. The trial was very violent. Weinstein’s lawyers put me through hell on the witness stand. I knew I needed to watch this through the end. I hope Harvey Weinstein never sees the outside of a prison cell during his lifetime.”
Fegan said that she plans to testify at the trial to seek justice for survivors and to improve the lives of women.
The jury selection began in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Lawyer Mark Firmani said that, depending on the schedule, there is a chance that Newsom will testify around November 8.
The New York Times published a report on Weinstein a day after the Huffington Post wrote about an experience she had of similar nature.
“I was naive, new to the industry, and didn’t know how to deal with his aggressive advances ― work invitations with a friend late-night at The Toronto Film Festival, and later an invitation to meet with him about a role in The Peninsula Hotel, where staff were present and then all of a sudden disappeared like clockwork, leaving me alone with this extremely powerful and intimidating Hollywood legend,” Newsom wrote.
“Miss Representation,” “The Mask You Live In” and “The Great American Lie” are three of the films written, directed and produced by Siebel Newsom. During her time as California’s First Partner, Siebel Newsom has advocated for working mothers and launched initiatives focused on closing the pay gap, among other efforts, and has been involved in several social activism campaigns.
Weinstein vs. Jane Does: Forensic Evidence for the 2005 Integer Sexual Explosive Collision in Los Angeles
He has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges against him. He was accused of 11 charges, but four were dropped because the unnamed woman did not testify.
The Los Angeles County district attorney argued that Weinstein was a titan who used his power to prey on and silence women.
Meanwhile, Weinstein’s lawyers maintain that the allegations are either fabricated or consensual as part of a transactional relationship with the movie producer.
All the accusers were asked in court to recount the details of their allegations against Weinstein, provide details of meetings with the producer from years ago and explain their reactions to the alleged assaults.
Each morning at trial, Weinstein was brought from a correctional facility and wheeled into the Los Angeles courtroom wearing a suit and tie and holding a composition notebook.
Siebel Newsom said last month that he was staring at her while wearing a blue tie and a suit. She testified that Weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2005.
The defense asked the jurors if they could accept the Jane Does’ claim of lack of forensic evidence, arguing it was a lack of proof.
The prosecution had five words that summarized their case: take my word for it. He showed up at my hotel room without warning, according to my word. Take my word for it, I show up at his room. Take my word for it that I didn’t consent. Take my word for it, that I said no.’ It is called “.
Siebel Newsom described an hourslong “cat-and-mouse period,” which preceded her alleged assault. She said she felt like she was frozen that day.
Jane Doe 2, who was identified as Lauren Young, told her attorney Gloria Allred by phone that she was happy Weinstein was convicted on some counts despite there being a mistrial on her count, Allred said in a news conference after the verdict.
She never requested or received any compensation. She no longer lives in California. But she is testifying because she’s been asked to testify and I hope that they see her as the young woman that she was when she met Harvey Weinstein, and the woman that she is today approximately nine to 10 years later. Her life has changed,” Allred said.
“To be willing to subject yourself to what could be a very brutal cross-examination. That takes a very special person to do that. And she is a special person. Allred said she was very proud.
Weinstein is disappointed, but he hopes that with the particular accuser there are good grounds to appeal based on time and location. He is prepared to fight for his innocence even though the jury took their time to deliberate on other counts.
He was found guilty on three of the four charges he was accused of, including forcible oral copulation, rape and sexual penetration by foreign object, but one of them was tied to one of his accusers.
A Trial of Harvey Weinstein for Sexual Abuse and Explosive Crimes: Limits on the Explanation of Newsom’s Charges
The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on the charges that were related to Siebel Newsom, according to Elizabeth Fegan.
Jurors will return to court Tuesday to consider aggravating factors to help determine the outcome of Weinstein’s sentencing hearing, according to the DA’s office.
Young said she was relieved that Weinstein had been found guilty and that he wouldn’t be able to intimidate or sexually assault more women.
Since last year, Harvey Weinstein has been synonymous with sexual predator. In the years since the wave of accusations against the former movie mogul, it has even been argued, as a defense, that other serial abusers are not as bad as Mr. Weinstein.
You don’t necessarily have to be Weinstein to be on the jury in a trial of his crimes. The jury is usually told to decide a case on its own facts. And it is a hotly disputed question how much prosecutors are allowed to disclose to the jury about a defendant’s past when, like Mr. Weinstein, he has been accused of sex crimes. That is a question that should be looked into after Mr. Weinstein was convicted on Monday of multiple crimes in Los Angeles and New York.
But limitations have their limits. As former prosecutors who handled cases involving many types of serious crimes, including sexual assault, we think trials for sex crimes are different from other trials, and these differences must be reflected realistically in the rules of evidence.
Weinstein’s defense tried to discredit the women’s testimonies as “untrustworthy,” and during closing arguments, attorney Alan Jackson referred to them as “fame and fortune seekers.”
Other women identified as “Jane Doe” included a licensed massage therapist actress and model Natassia Malthe, who detailed an alleged attack inside a London hotel.
The accusers also described “abnormalities” on Weinstein’s genitalia, “the result of a surgery the defendant had in 1999 that caused noticeable scarring,” according to prosecutors.
Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez was a witness during the trial, testifying about his “prior bad acts.” In 2015, she filed a police report that spurred sex crimes prosecutors to investigate Weinstein. She was involved in a New York Police Department sting and agreed to wear a wire to record Weinstein. The Manhattan district attorney at the time didn’t end up prosecuting him, but the recording was played for jurors in Los Angeles.
The news got the attention of people in all of society who were horrified by sexual abuse and sexual harassment in the workplace. That movement has exposed sexual misconduct by very powerful men in business, politics and entertainment.
A Los Angeles jury failed to declare a mistrial on indecent assault charges against Harvey Weinstein, whose lawyers are appealing his New York verdict
He’s in London where there are criminal charges of indecent assault. His Los Angeles conviction could keep him in prison for the rest of his life, because his attorneys are appealing his New York verdict.
The Los Angeles jury failed to agree on the most important factor of Harvey Weinstein’s crimes: whether or not he should be sentenced to more prison time.
“The jury has said they are not able to reach a unanimous verdict on these issues,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench said, according to a pool report. “I am going to declare a mistrial with respect to the allegations.”
Jurors had deliberated for several hours Tuesday. The defense did not push for further deliberations after the jury indicated it wouldn’t sway them.
When Lench asked prosecutor Paul Thompson if Weinstein will be retried on the deadlock counts, the pool report said he responded: “We need to consult the victims first and foremost.”
The verdict was reached when the jury met for a third week of deliberations and took 10 days to make a decision.