Jury begins to consider Harvey Weinstein verdict
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – Jurors began deliberating their verdict in Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault retrial Thursday after hearing from three women who allege the cinema power broker preyed on them.
A New York state appeals court had thrown out Weinstein’s 2020 convictions, citing irregularities in the presentation of witnesses at his original trial, which resulted in two victims of his alleged abuse testifying for a second time.
Judge Curtis Farber issued instructions Thursday to jurors, one of whom had to be swapped out for an alternate after falling ill, before they retired to consider their verdict.
He called on the panel to use their “common sense” for this “very important decision” and reminded them that Weinstein was “presumed innocent.”
After six weeks of deliberations, the jury must decide whether Weinstein, accused by dozens of women of being a sexual predator, is guilty of sexual assaults in 2006 on former production assistant Miriam Haley and former model Kaja Sokola, and of rape in 2013 of aspiring actress Jessica Mann.
“He raped three women, they all said no,” prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said Wednesday as she recounted the evidence of the three alleged victims of Weinstein who testified at the trial.
– ‘All the power’ –
The Hollywood figure had “all the power” and “all the control” over the alleged victims, which is why jurors should find him guilty, she said.
“The defendant thought the rules did not apply to him, now it is the time to let him know that the rules apply to him.
“There is no reasonable doubt; tell the defendant what he already knows — that he is guilty of the three crimes.”
Weinstein’s defense attorney insisted the sexual encounters were consensual, pointing to a “casting couch” dynamic between the movie mogul and the women.
“We don’t want to police the bedroom” except in cases of rape, Blumberg fired back.
Weinstein, the producer of box office hits “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love,” has never acknowledged wrongdoing.
The cinema magnate, whose downfall in 2017 sparked the global #MeToo movement, has been on trial again since April 15 in a scruffy Manhattan courtroom.
He is serving a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted in California of raping and assaulting a European actress more than a decade ago.
Two of the accusers in this case — Haley and Mann — testified at Weinstein’s original trial.
Their accounts helped galvanize the #MeToo movement nearly a decade ago, but the case is being re-prosecuted at a new trial in New York.
His 2020 convictions on charges relating to Haley and Mann, and his 23-year prison term, were overturned last year by the New York Court of Appeals.
The tribunal ruled that the way witnesses were handled in the original trial was improper.
