Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of three rape and sexual assault charges on Monday.
But the jury couldn’t agree on three other charges, so they found him not guilty of one of them.
A jury proved at his trial that in February 2013, Weinstein raped an Italian model named Jane Doe #1 at the Mr. C hotel.
Jane Doe #3, who worked as a massage therapist, said he sexually assaulted her, but the jury didn’t agree. And what Jennifer Siebel Newsom and Lauren Young said about the charges was not what they thought. Instead, the jury voted 10 to 2 that he was guilty of sexual battery against Young and rape and forced oral copulation against Siebel Newsom.
On the three charges where the jury couldn’t decide, Judge Lisa B. Lench called a mistrial. District Attorney George Gascón said his office would decide later if it would try Harvey Weinstein again on those counts.
Weinstein was sitting in the courtroom in a gray suit. When the verdict was read, he didn’t say much. Many of his accusers’ lawyers, like Gloria Allred and Beth Fegan, were in the crowd.
In a statement, Jane Doe #1 thanked the prosecution for “believing in me and fighting so hard for all the victims, including me, at the trial.”
Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape, oral coitus, and having a foreign object go through his body. He could go to prison for up to 24 years for these crimes.
The jury still has things to do. First, they have to go back to court on Tuesday morning to talk about “aggravating factors” that could make Weinstein stay in jail longer.
Since the case is still going on, Weinstein’s lawyers wouldn’t say anything outside of court. No sentencing date has been set.
After the jury decided that Weinstein wasn’t guilty of Count 5, which was sexually assaulting the massage therapist, they were asked to think about the lesser charge of the same crime. Instead, a jury that was split 10–2 found him guilty of the misdemeanor count. The charge would have been dropped if he had been found guilty of the misdemeanor because the law says you only have so much time to do something.
Ten days trial before convicting Harvey Weinstein
The jury started thinking about the case on December 2, and it took them about 10 days and 40 hours to decide.
The former Hollywood star was tried on seven charges: two counts of forced rape, two counts of sexual battery by restraint, two counts of forced oral copulation, and one count of penetration by a foreign object.
Four women said that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted them in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills hotel rooms between 2005 and 2013. If Weinstein had been found guilty of all the charges, he could have gotten anywhere from 60 years to life in prison.
Weinstein, who is 70, is already serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault, which he was found guilty of in his first criminal trial in New York in 2020.
The highest court in New York, the New York Court of Appeals, will hear the case next year.
Harvey Weinstein has been in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles since July 2021, when he was brought there from New York. He has to use a wheelchair because of health problems like diabetes, sleep apnea, heart problems, and eye problems.
Gavin Newsom, who runs the state of California, is married to Siebel Newsom. She said that Weinstein raped her in 2005 after she went to a meeting with him that she thought was for business.
Gov. Newsom also said he is “very proud of my wife and all the brave women who came forward to tell their stories and give hope to many survivors who can’t.”
Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, the Italian model at the center of an NYPD sting operation against Weinstein in 2015, was one of four “prior bad acts” witnesses the prosecution called to back up the charges.
In their final arguments, the government called Weinstein a “predator” and asked the jury to end his “reign of terror.”
His defense team said that the accusers’ relationships with the producer were “transactional” because he was so powerful in the entertainment business. Alan Jackson, Weinstein’s defense lawyer, said of the two men, “They played the game.” “They dislike it now, and what they said showed how much they dislike it.”
Over 100 women have said that Weinstein sexually harassed, attacked, or raped them in the past five years.
Gascón said in a statement that he was “disappointed” that the jury didn’t agree with him on some counts. But he thanked those who said he was guilty of coming forward and letting the other side question him.
Harvey Weinstein is not the only famous person who has been accused or convicted in recent years of sexual assault, rape, or penetrating sex. R. Kelly, who has won many awards, and Kevin Spacey, a well-known American actor, are also well-known.
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Image Source: Bloomberg
