New York (AFP) – Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein conceded that he acted “immorally” but insisted he did nothing criminal as jury deliberations on his fate in his sex crimes retrial paused for the weekend Friday. Jurors said after two days that they needed “more time” to deliberate on a verdict for Weinstein. He is on trial again after a New York state appeals court threw out his 2020 convictions, citing irregularities in the original proceedings. The former movie industry titan’s 23-year prison sentence for the initial conviction was thrown out, but he remains imprisoned for separate offenses.
Although Weinstein did not take the stand, he spoke out in an interview aired by FOX5 television Friday as the jury considered six weeks of testimony. “I have regrets that I put my family through this, that I put my wife through this, and I acted immorally…, but never illegal, never criminal, never anything,” he said. Weinstein pointed to comments by his defense attorney Arthur Aidala, who suggested the three women who testified against him at trial “had four million reasons to testify, as in dollars.”
Judge Curtis Farber issued initial 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 “common sense” for this “very important decision” and reminded them that Weinstein was “presumed innocent.” On Friday, the jury panel of 12 heard a read back of emotional testimony from Weinstein’s former assistant Miriam Haley. The jury must decide whether Weinstein — accused by dozens of women of being a sexual predator — is guilty of sexual assaults in 2006 on Haley and former model Kaja Sokola, and of rape in 2013 of then-aspiring actress Jessica Mann.
One juror came forward on Friday to report tensions between his fellow panelists, alleging “people are being shunned. It’s playground stuff.” He asked to resign as a juror, but Farber denied his request. Aidala requested that a mistrial be declared, but the judge denied his motion, and the jury will continue to deliberate Weinstein’s fate Monday.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Nicole Blumberg summarized the evidence of the three alleged victims of Weinstein who testified at the trial for jurors, saying simply, “he raped three women, they all said no.” 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. 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 since April 15 in a scruffy Manhattan courtroom. He is already serving a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted in California in a separate case for raping and assaulting a European actress more than a decade ago.
© 2024 AFP
