Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape in Los Angeles trial – Orange County Register

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By ANDREW DALTON (AP Entertainment Writer)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape at a trial in Los Angeles on Monday in another moment of #MeToo judgment, five years after he became a magnet for the movement.

After deliberating for nine days over more than two weeks, the jury of eight men and four women have delivered the verdict in the second criminal trial of the 70-year-old powerful movie mogul, who is two years away from a 23-year sentence. years for a rape and sexual assault conviction in New York.

Weinstein was found guilty of rape, forced oral sex and another count of sexual misconduct involving an Italian model and actor who said he appeared uninvited at his hotel room door during from a Los Angeles film festival in 2013. The jury was unable to reach a decision on several counts, including charges involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom.

The jury said they were unable to reach verdicts on her allegations and on the allegations of another woman. A mistrial was ordered on these counts.

He was also acquitted of a sexual battery allegation made by a massage therapist who treated Weinstein at a hotel in 2010.

Weinstein looked down at the table and appeared to put his face in his hands as the first charges were read. He looked forward to reading the rest of the verdict.

He faces up to 24 years in prison when convicted. Prosecutors and defense attorneys did not immediately comment on the verdict.

“Harvey Weinstein can never rape another woman. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars, where he belongs,” Siebel Newsom said in a statement. “Throughout the trial, Weinstein’s attorneys have used the sexism, misogyny and bullying tactics to intimidate, belittle and ridicule us, the survivors. The lawsuit was a stark reminder that we, as a society, have work to do.

“It is time for the defendant’s reign of terror to end,” Assistant District Attorney Marlene Martinez said in the prosecution’s closing statement. “It is time for the kingmaker to be brought to justice.”

In the absence of forensic evidence or eyewitness accounts of assaults, according to Weinstein’s accusers, between 2005 and 2013, the case hinged heavily on the stories and credibility of the four women at the center of the charges.

The accusers included Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker whose husband is California Governor Gavin Newsom. Her intense and moving testimony of being raped by Weinstein in a hotel room in 2005 brought the trial its most dramatic moments.

Lauren Young, the only accuser to testify in both Weinstein trials, said she was a model aspiring actress and screenwriter who met Weinstein about a screenplay in 2013 when he tricked her into a room hotel bathroom, groped her and masturbated in front of her.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the charge involving Young. Jurors told the judge they were 10 to 2 in favor of a conviction on his count and 8 to 4 in favor of a conviction on the two counts involving Siebel Newsom.

Martinez said in his conclusion that the women walked into Weinstein’s hotel suites or let him into their rooms, with no idea what awaited them.

“Who would suspect such a titan of the entertainment industry would be a degenerate rapist?” she said.

The women’s stories echoed allegations from dozens of others that have emerged since Weinstein became a #MeToo lightning rod beginning with stories in The New York Times in 2017. A film about that reporting, “She Said,” came out during the trial, and the jurors were repeatedly warned not to see him.

It was the defense that made #MeToo an issue during the trial, pointing out that none of the four women turned themselves in to authorities before the movement made Weinstein a target.

Defense attorneys said two of the women were lying entirely about their encounters with Weinstein, and the other two had “100% consensual” sexual interactions which they later reframed.

“Regret is not the same as rape,” Weinstein’s attorney Alan Jackson said in closing argument.

He urged jurors to look beyond the women’s emotional testimony and focus on factual evidence.

“‘Believe us because we’re crazy, believe us because we cried,'” Jackson told jurors. “Well, fury doesn’t make reality. And tears don’t tell the truth.

All of the women involved in the charges went through Jane Doe in court. The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly or agree to be named through their attorneys, as the women named here did. .

Prosecutors called 40 other witnesses to try to give context and corroborate these stories. Four were other women who were not part of the charges but testified that Weinstein raped or sexually assaulted them. They were brought to the stand to establish a pattern of sexual predation.

Weinstein beat four other felony charges before the trial even ended when prosecutors said a woman he was accused of twice raping and sexually assaulting twice would not appear to testify. They refused to give a reason. Judge Lisa Lench dismissed those charges.

Weinstein’s latest sentencing offers a victory for victims of sexual misconduct by famous men following a few legal setbacks, including the dismissal of Bill Cosby’s conviction last year. The rape trial of ‘That ’70s Show’ actor Danny Masterson, held simultaneously and just down the hall from Weinstein, ended in a mistrial. And actor Kevin Spacey was victorious in a civil sexual assault trial in New York last month.

Weinstein’s conviction in New York survived an initial appeal, but the case is expected to be heard in the state’s highest court next year. The California conviction, also likely to be appealed, means he will not walk free even if the East Coast conviction is overturned.

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Follow AP Entertainment writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton

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For more on the Harvey Weinstein trial, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/harvey-weinstein

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