A Manhattan jury discovered Harvey Weinstein responsible on a intercourse crimes cost on Wednesday in a retrial after a state appeals courtroom final yr overturned the previous film mogul’s 2020 conviction.
Weinstein, as soon as probably the most highly effective figures in Hollywood, was accused by prosecutors within the case of raping an aspiring actress and assaulting two different ladies. Weinstein, 73, pleaded not responsible and has denied assaulting anybody or having non-consensual intercourse.
The jury discovered Weinstein responsible on one of many three counts he confronted, which stemmed from his alleged assault of former manufacturing assistant Miriam Haley in 2006. The jury discovered Weinstein not responsible of a cost stemming from his alleged assault of Kaja Sokola in 2002 when she was a 16-year-old aspiring actress.
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The jury has not but reached a verdict on the third depend, which expenses him with raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013. They’ll resume deliberations on that depend on Thursday. In closing arguments on June 3, the prosecution advised the 12 jurors that the proof confirmed how Weinstein used his energy and affect to lure and abuse ladies.
The defence countered that the accusers lied on the witness stand out of spite after their consensual sexual encounters with the Oscar-winning producer did not end in Hollywood stardom. Jurors reached their partial verdict on the fifth day of typically fractious deliberations. The retrial started on April 23. Weinstein has had a litany of well being issues and attended the retrial in a wheelchair. A jury had in February 2020 discovered Weinstein responsible of raping Mann and sexually assaulting Haley. Sokola’s allegation was not a part of that case.
The conviction was a milestone for the #MeToo motion, which inspired ladies to come back ahead with allegations of sexual misconduct by highly effective males.
However the New York Courtroom of Appeals, the state’s highest courtroom, threw out that conviction in April 2024. It mentioned the trial decide erred by letting ladies testify that Weinstein had assaulted them, although their accusations weren’t the premise of the legal expenses. Although the 2020 conviction was thrown out, Weinstein has remained behind bars due to his 2022 rape conviction in California, which resulted in a 16-year jail sentence. He’s interesting that verdict.
Greater than 100 ladies, together with well-known actresses, have accused Weinstein of misconduct.
The retrial was dealt with by prosecutors with the workplace of Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin Bragg. They portrayed Weinstein as a serial predator who promised profession development in Hollywood to ladies, solely to then coax them into non-public settings the place he attacked them.
The protection rejected that characterization, saying Weinstein engaged in “mutually helpful” relationships together with his accusers, who ended up with auditions and different present enterprise alternatives.
Weinstein co-founded the Miramax studio, whose hit motion pictures included “Shakespeare in Love” and “Pulp Fiction.” His personal eponymous movie studio filed for chapter in March 2018, 5 months after sexual misconduct accusations towards him turned broadly publicised. Weinstein has skilled a number of well being episodes whereas being held at New York Metropolis’s Rikers Island jail, and in September was rushed to a hospital for emergency coronary heart surgical procedure.
