After nearly four weeks of testimony from 44 witnesses, Los Angeles prosecutors put their case on hold in the trial of Harvey Weinstein, accused of raping two women and assaulting another The two engaged in sexual assault.
Currently serving two years of a 23-year sentence in New York on rape and sexual assault charges, Weinstein He has been held in jail during his latest trial.
L.A. Trial Widely Considered Symbolic – But Given Producers Are Granted leave to appeal his conviction in New York.
The 70-year-old is accused of committing crimes against four witnesses who testified in court. Three of the women — a model, a model/actress and a massage therapist — gave evidence anonymously. Filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, has waived her right to anonymity.
Four other women unrelated to the allegations also told the court that Weinstein sexually assaulted them.
Originally facing 11 charges, Weinstein now faces seven – and has pleaded not guilty to all, his lawyers say many of the encounters were consensual – after discovering that the accuser, named Jane Doe #5, will not appear, 4 The charges were withdrawn from testimony.
The trial was interrupted for more than a week around Thanksgiving in the United States before returning to hear testimony from defense witnesses in late November. The following are the main allegations heard during the prosecution.
“I was in tears and a little bit hysterical”
Photo: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
Weinstein’s first accuser, a model and actress who was at a film festival in Los Angeles when she was allegedly raped by a producer in 2013, told the court he knocked on her hotel room door and she Let him in.
She said Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on a hotel bed. “I was in tears and kind of hysterical,” she said. “I kept saying ‘no, no, no’.”
She said she was physically afraid of Weinstein because Weinstein weighed 100 pounds or more than she did, and considered running, hitting or biting him.
She said that when Weinstein took her to the bathroom and raped her, she stopped physically resisting but continued to protest verbally. “I would freeze up, like my body wouldn’t work.”
woman testifies a second time
Only one woman who gave evidence during the New York trial testified in Los Angeles. The aspiring screenwriter model met with Weinstein to discuss a script she was working on in 2013, the court heard.
She described Weinstein as a “monster,” saying he took her into the bathroom, quickly removed his suit, took a brief shower, and walked out to prevent her from leaving.
“I’m disgusted,” she said. “I’ve never seen such a big guy naked.”
She said she leaned against the sink and turned away from him. He then unfastened her skirt and fondled her with one hand while masturbating with the other, the court heard.
Masseuse tells court she was ‘terrified’ during hotel room incident
The massage therapist alleges Weinstein sexually assaulted her in 2010, when she was 28, when he hired her to come to his hotel room for treatment.
She told the court that when she was washing her hands after the massage, Weinstein came in, blocked the door and started masturbating in front of her.
“I’m terrified,” she began crying, the court heard. Weinstein blocked the door, pushed her against a wall and groped her breasts before finishing.
“I was in shock. I felt like I was frozen, I felt paralyzed,” she said.
Filmmaker cries as he recounts alleged rape
Jennifer Siebel Newsom.Photo: Associated Press
Siebel Newsom, 48, told the court in an emotional deposition that she was 31 when she was allegedly attacked by Weinstein at a business meeting in 2005. She sees it as a business meeting trying to build her career.
After two-and-a-half hours on the witness stand, she told the court in tears that she unexpectedly found herself alone with the Hollywood mogul in a hotel suite.
Asked to describe how she felt after Weinstein came out of the bathroom in a robe and started touching her while he masturbated, she said: “Horror! Horror! I’m shaking. I’m like a rock, I’m cold. It’s me Worst nightmare.”
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Ms Sibel Newsom said she told Weinstein, “That’s not why I’m here,” as she physically tried to back off.
The trial will continue with the defense on November 28.