Weinstein Sex Crimes Trial in Los Angeles to Begin With Bigger Stakes

Decide Lench additionally dominated that prosecutors might name solely 5 feminine witnesses to testify about uncharged “prior dangerous acts” by Mr. Weinstein; prosecutors had requested to name one other 11, together with the actress Daryl Hannah and the activist and former actress Rose McGowan. Later, Decide Lench additional restricted these contextual witnesses to 4, citing accounts that had been too related.

These 4 girls will testify beneath a legislation identified in California as 1108, which permits prosecutors to introduce proof of a defendant’s uncharged misconduct, in an effort to point out that Mr. Weinstein had a typical mode of working in such conditions. Solely one of many girls has been publicly recognized. She is Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, an Italian mannequin who instructed New York police in 2015 that Mr. Weinstein had groped her breasts and tried to drive his hand up her skirt throughout a piece assembly at his workplace.

“We worry that the federal government is mainly attempting to blow Mr. Weinstein away with a fireplace hose of allegations that are false and uncredible,” Mr. Werksman mentioned. “The problem for the protection is to get the jury to take a look at each allegation in opposition to him and weigh the proof of each accuser.”

Manhattan prosecutors used the legislation’s New York equal in Mr. Weinstein’s 2020 trial, calling on three further witnesses to assist the jury perceive the film producer’s sample of habits together with his victims.

In different pretrial issues in Los Angeles, Decide Lench has sided with prosecutors. In August, for example, she rejected a protection request to delay the trial till after “She Mentioned” debuts in theaters. Mr. Werksman had argued that advertisements for the movie might “dramatically prejudice” the jury. Common Footage is anticipated to spend an a minimum of $25 million to advertise the movie’s home launch.

“We’ll simply should take care of it,” Decide Lench mentioned from the bench.

One vital trial-related query is what jurors shall be instructed, if something, about Mr. Weinstein’s New York conviction. Los Angeles prosecutors had received the precise to incorporate details about a part of it. However when the New York Courtroom of Appeals accepted Mr. Weinstein’s case in late August, the matter grew to become sophisticated: If the Los Angeles jury finds Mr. Weinstein responsible and bases its choice partially on the details about the New York verdict — and that verdict is subsequently reversed — it might turn out to be fodder for an attraction in California.

“We have now not determined whether or not we are going to current proof of it,” Greg Risling, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district lawyer, mentioned in an e-mail.