LOS ANGELES — Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and actor who’s married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, is among the many accusers of Harvey Weinstein who will testify at his rape and sexual assault trial that began Monday, her attorney said.
“Like many other women, my client was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein at a purported business meeting that turned out to be a trap,” Newsom’s attorney Elizabeth Fegan said in an announcement. “She intends to testify at his trial as a way to seek some measure of justice for survivors, and as a part of her life’s work to enhance the lives of ladies.”
Weinstein, the 70-year-old former movie mogul who’s serving a 23-year prison sentence after a conviction in Latest York, has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of rape and sexual assault involving Newsom and 4 other women. All of them will testify as Jane Doe throughout the eight-week trial in a Los Angeles court, where jury selection began Monday.
The Associated Press doesn’t normally name individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused, but Newsom agreed to be named through her attorney.
The news of her involvement was first reported by The Los Angeles Times.
Newsom, 48, appeared in small roles in dozens of movies and tv shows between 2002 and 2011. Recently she has directed documentaries including “The Great American Lie” in 2020 and “Fair Play” from this 12 months. Each cope with gender in society.
Going Public with Accusation
She wrote about her experience with Weinstein in a 2017 essay within the Huffington Post after the Latest York Times and Latest Yorker stories made him a magnet of the #MeToo movement but gave few details.
Weinstein, who’s being held in a Los Angeles County jail, was brought Monday into court in a wheelchair through a side door and climbed from it fastidiously right into a seat next to one in every of his lawyers on the defense table. He was wearing a blue suit, which he’s allowed to alter into from his jail attire throughout the trial.
He stood with the remaining of the room as the primary panel of 67 prospective jurors were brought in but sat down about halfway through the method. He waved at them from his seat when his lawyers introduced them.
The jurors got a lengthy questionnaire intended to screen out those that should be dismissed. Each the questions and answers on the forms are private, but previous hearings on its contents revealed that it comprises questions on how much media coverage of Weinstein they’ve seen, and whether or not they have formed opinions from it, though the judge rejected questions on specific stories and media outlets.
The prosecution might be allowed to introduce as evidence parts of Weinstein’s conviction for rape and sexual assault, where the state’s highest court has agreed to listen to his appeal.
The questionnaire also includes a matter a couple of California law that claims the testimony alone of a sexual assault victim will be sufficient evidence to convict if a juror believes them.
Lengthy Witness List
The jurors were also given an extended list of names of witnesses in the approaching trial, including those of the accusers to find out whether or not they have any connection to them. The initial witness list within the case had greater than 270 names, though fewer than half which can be expected. Most of the possible witness list has not been made public.
One witness, Barbara Schneeweiss, a producer on “Project Runway” and other television shows, was present in court early Monday and was told by a judge she was on call to are available at any time.
Two more panels of as much as 75 jurors might be brought in Tuesday and Wednesday. Questioning of individual jurors just isn’t expected to start until next week and opening statements may not begin for 2 weeks.
The trial comes five years after women’s stories about Weinstein made the #MeToo movement explode.
Weinstein is charged with 4 counts of rape and 7 other sexual assault counts.
A lot of the incidents in his indictment, like Newsom’s, happened under the guise of business meetings at luxury hotels in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, which Weinstein used as his California headquarters and where he might be seen during awards season and all year long. 4 of them occurred during Oscars week 2013, when Weinstein releases “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Django Unchained” would win Academy Awards.
