Divided verdict for Harvey Weinstein: the ousted ex-Hollywood producer was found guilty on Monday of rape and two sexual assaults at the end of his trial in Los Angeles, only half of the charges for which he was being prosecuted.
After two weeks of deliberation, the jurors found him guilty on all charges brought by the first of the four accusers. They found him not guilty on the charges of a second woman, and did not issue a verdict on the allegations made by the other two.
The 70-year-old former ‘king’ of cinema, who produced award-winning hits like pulp Fiction Where The Artistis already serving a 23-year prison sentence after his conviction in New York in 2020 for similar acts.
The press investigations that revealed these facts provoked #MeToo, a global movement for the liberation of women’s voices on gender-based and sexual violence.
During this new trial, four women testifying anonymously accused the producer in great detail of forcing them to have sex in hotels in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles between 2004 and 2013. A fifth ultimately refused to testify .
After weeks of harrowing hearings, often interrupted by sobbing plaintiffs, the prosecution has painted Mr. Weinstein as an all-powerful ogre, whose stranglehold on Hollywood — films he produced have received more than 330 nominations at the Oscars and 81 statuettes – has long prevented its victims from speaking out, for fear of repercussions on their careers.
Dressed in a gray suit on Monday, the former movie giant buried his head in his hands as the convictions were handed down.
After this verdict, a judge has yet to decide Mr. Weinstein’s sentence.
For the three counts of which he was found guilty, the septuagenarian faces a sentence of up to 18 years in prison. A maximum which could be increased to 24 years, depending on certain aggravating circumstances on which the jury must still decide.
Call to New York
The verdict of this new trial in Los Angeles was particularly important for the ex-producer. Because after an initial refusal of justice, the New York Supreme Court finally authorized him in August to appeal his 2020 conviction, an initial decision which had been a major victory for the #MeToo movement.
Combative, his defense systematically questioned the word of the four accusers during the trial and insisted on the lack of material evidence and forensic elements.
“Tears do not tell the truth”, had thus launched Alan Jackson, one of the producer’s lawyers, castigating an accusation which “rests entirely” on the will of the jury to believe the plaintiffs.
Mr. Weinstein’s defense had particularly incriminated Jennifer Siebel-Newsom, the wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who revealed her identity during the trial.
According to the defense, she had a relationship granted in exchange for favors in Hollywood, which she later regretted and turned into accusations, riding the avalanche of revelations aimed at Mr. Weinstein at the start of the #MeToo movement in 2017.
An argument that instilled doubt in the jurors: Ms. Siebel-Newsom is one of the two women for whom they have not pronounced a verdict.
In total, nearly 90 women, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rosanna Arquette, have accused Harvey Weinstein of harassment, sexual assault or rape. But the statute of limitations has been exceeded in many of these cases, some dating back to 1977.
The ex-producer is also charged in the United Kingdom for sexual assaults which date back to 1996.