New York (AFP) – A prosecutor told jurors at Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault trial Wednesday that “no means no” as they prepared to consider his fate. A New York state appeals court had thrown out Weinstein’s 2020 convictions after irregularities in the presentation of witnesses at his original trial, forcing two victims of his alleged abuse to testify a second time.
“He raped three women, they all said no,” said prosecutor Nicole Blumberg as she recounted the evidence of the three alleged victims of Weinstein who testified at this trial. The Hollywood powerbroker 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 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. Judge Curtis Farber indicated that he would give his instructions to the jurors Thursday morning, the final step before they withdraw behind closed doors to deliberate.
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 — onetime production assistant Miriam Haley and then-aspiring actress Jessica 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 unlawful.
Some 20 years after the earliest incidents were alleged to have taken place, Weinstein’s defense team has sought to cast doubt on the credibility of the accusers. Weinstein has appeared daily in a wheelchair, physically subdued, but laughing and joking with his legal team. He did not speak at his trial, which also featured a new charge of sexual assault committed against former Polish model Kaja Sokola.
© 2024 AFP
