Harvey Weinstein found guilty of raping one of his four accusers at second sexual misconduct trial
Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of the rape and sexual assault of one of the four accusers at his second sexual misconduct trial.
The guilty verdict came after a month-long trial and nine days of deliberation by the jury.
The three guilty counts involved an Italian actor and model known at the trial as 'Jane Doe'. Jurors could not reach a verdict on two accusers’ cases, including allegations by documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom. Weinstein, 70, who is two years into a 23-year sentence for a rape and sexual assault conviction in New York that is under appeal, now faces a further 24 years in prison in California.
Over the course of five weeks, 44 witnesses testified in Weinstein's latest trial over accusations that he sexually assaulted four women.He was found guilty of rape, forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count involving the woman who said he appeared uninvited at her hotel room door during a Los Angeles film festival in 2013.
In a statement after the verdict, the unnamed woman said: “Harvey Weinstein forever destroyed a part of me that night in 2013 and I will never get that back. The criminal trial was brutal and Weinstein’s lawyers put me through hell on the witness stand, but I knew I had to see this through to the end, and I did."
"I hope Weinstein never sees the outside of a prison cell during his lifetime.”
Weinstein was acquitted of a sexual battery allegation made by a massage therapist who treated him at a hotel in 2010.
He was charged with seven counts of sex crimes, including rape, in connection with the assaults of four women in a period spanning nine years.
Weinstein had pleaded not guilty and denied engaging in any non-consensual sex.
The former movie mogul's spokesperson said he was "obviously disappointed in the verdict."
Following the verdicts, Juda Engelmayer said there was a strong basis for an appeal on the convictions.
“Harvey is grateful for the jury’s work on the other counts, and he’s determined to continue his legal challenges in ultimately proving his innocence.”
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón applauded the accusers for their bravery to testify in the case, saying in a statement he was disappointed by the split verdict but hoped it brings “some measure of justice to the victims.”
A New York Times investigation in October 2017 revealed how the once all-powerful Hollywood mogul had spent decades abusing women.
The report helped propel the #MeToo movement into the public consciousness.
In the wake of the #MeToo movement and Weinstein's conviction, the culture in Hollywood has undergone concerted reforms, and major studios have changed the way they control the environment.
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