A jury found Harvey Weinstein guilty of 1 count of rape and two counts of sexual assault, each regarding the identical person, at his trial in Los Angeles.
The guilty charges were for forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by foreign object of Jane Doe 1, an Italian model, on the Mr. C Hotel in town in February 2013.
Three other women had also accused him of rape and sex assaults which took place between 2005 and 2013.
Weinstein was found not guilty of sexual battery by restraint of Jane Doe 3, a massage therapist.
On charges of sexual battery by restraint of Jane Doe 2 — previously identified as actress and screenwriter Lauren Young — and forcible rape and forcible oral copulation of Jane Doe 4, who has previously been identified as Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the jury was hung and will not deliver a unanimous verdict.
The jury, made up of nine men and three women, reached their decision after 10 days of deliberations and 41 hours of debate.
70-year old Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault after being convicted in Recent York in 2020 on different sex crime charges, although he has appealed that verdict.
A complete of 44 witnesses testified in the course of the five-week trial where each of the victims testified anonymously, although Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, had previously identified herself as being a part of the trial.
4 additional “prior bad acts” witnesses — women who weren’t a part of the case, but said that they had also been sexually assaulted by Weinstein — were also allowed to take the stand to ascertain a pattern of his behavior and provided emotionally-charged testimony.
Considered one of those victims, Ashley M., testified she was raped by the disgraced Miramax and Weinstein Company producer in a hotel in Puerto Rico while she was working because the body double for actress Romola Garai.
Meanwhile, Siebel Newsom broke down in tears when she recounting how Weinstein had allegedly raped her in 2005 on the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills.
“I’m standing. I’m resisting,” she testified. “Horror. I’m trembling. That is my worst nightmare. I’m just this blow-up doll that he’s just attempting to masturbate off of.”
She also got visibly offended later within the case when defense attorney Mark Werksman asked her to indicate how she had “faked an orgasm” along with his client to the courtroom.
Siebel Newsom retorted, “This will not be ‘When Harry Met Sally.’ I’m not doing that.”
In her closing argument, Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez said the previous Hollywood titan lured the ladies to hotel rooms under the guise of business meetings.
Martinez said Weinstein also used his female employees and associates to achieve out and “deliver” the victims to the hotel rooms. Once contained in the hotel, Weinstein would undress and masturbate in front of the ladies. Siebel Newsom and Jane Doe 1, a model, each testified Weinstein penetrated them along with his “deformed” penis.
“In a word, he was powerful, and he held that power to prey on women, to silence women,” Martinez said. “He used that power without the implications of his predatory behavior. … He believed he was so powerful. For a few years that’s what he did. The reality is, many individuals knew but never did anything.”
Defense attorney Alan Jackson, nevertheless, told jurors during his closing argument that prosecutors didn’t provide any evidence to prove Weinstein had committed the costs related to the 4 Jane Does. He added the opposite 4 “prior bad acts” witnesses were just “excuses to pile on” Weinstein.
Jackson had said the alleged rape of Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 “simply never happened,” while Jane Doe 3 and Jane Doe 4 had “transactional sex” with Weinstein and continued a relationship with him since it benefitted their careers to be related to the then powerful Hollywood producer.
“‘Take my word for it’— five words that sum up the whole lot of the prosecution’s case,” Jackson said. “They were untruthful with you, without exception. Jane Doe 1, 2, 3, 4 all told you lies. … “Fury doesn’t make facts, and tears don’t make truth.”
In his 2020 Recent York trial, jurors took five days to deliberate. before finding Weinstein guilty of rape and criminal sexual assault. Nevertheless, he was acquitted of the 2 most serious charges against him — each counts of predatory sexual assault.
The accusations in Weinstein’s Recent York case set into motion the #MeToo movement, exposing predatory practices with the Hollywood “casting couch” culture and other industries.
Weinstein might be sentenced in the brand new 12 months.