CNN
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Prosecutors mentioned in opening statements of Harvey Weinstein’s second felony trial Monday that eight ladies will testify in court docket they have been sexually assaulted by the highly effective Hollywood mogul.
“Every of those ladies got here ahead impartial of one another, and none of them knew each other,” prosecutor Paul Thompson instructed the jury, in keeping with a pool report.
4 of the ladies’s testimony can be instantly linked to particular costs. These ladies embrace Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and the spouse of California Gov. Gavin Newsom; Jane Doe 1, a mannequin and actress who lived in Italy on the time; Jane Doe 2, a 23-year-old mannequin and aspiring screenwriter; and Jane Doe 3, a licensed therapeutic massage therapist, in keeping with a pool report.
The latest indictment within the case indicated there have been 5 ladies instantly linked to costs. CNN is working to make clear the distinction between that indictment and the prosecutors’ opening statements.
As well as, 4 ladies will testify as “prior dangerous acts” witnesses, that means their testimony isn’t associated to a particular cost however can be utilized by the jury as prosecutors attempt to present Weinstein had a sample in his actions. These ladies will testify about assaults outdoors of Los Angeles jurisdiction, Thompson mentioned.
Within the protection’s opening statements, legal professional Mark Werksman described the prosecution’s case as a “firehose” of allegations that can every disintegrate upon shut inspection. He mentioned Jane Doe 1 and a couple of fabricated their tales and mentioned Siebel Newsom and Jane Doe 3 had consensual sexual relationship with Weinstein.
“The huge dimension of this case and the huge variety of accusers just isn’t the results of a fastidiously investigated … fact-driven prosecution,” he mentioned.
Weinstein, 70, has pleaded not responsible to costs together with rape and forcible oral copulation associated to incidents relationship from 2004 to 2013, in keeping with the indictment. In court docket Monday, he appeared hunched over as he clambered from a wheelchair right into a chair on the protection desk. Sporting a go well with and tie, he primarily checked out jurors all through the proceedings.
After openings, Jane Doe 1 took the stand as the primary witness and accused Weinstein of assault. She mentioned she was staying in a resort for the Los Angeles Italia movie competition in February 2013 when she received a name that Weinstein, who she barely knew, needed to see her. Inside her room, she requested him to depart however he grabbed her by the hair and compelled her to carry out oral intercourse, she testified.
“I used to be crying, choking,” she mentioned.
She broke into sobs in court docket, main the choose to finish testimony for the day.
The trial in California is his second such sexual assault case since reporting by The New York Instances and The New Yorker in 2017 revealed Weinstein’s alleged historical past of sexual abuse, harassment and secret settlements as he used his affect as a Hollywood energy dealer to make the most of younger ladies.
On the time, Weinstein was some of the highly effective males in Hollywood and helped produce films equivalent to “Pulp Fiction,” “Clerks” and “Shakespeare in Love.”
The revelations led to a wave of girls talking publicly in regards to the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and harassment in what grew to become generally known as the #MeToo motion.
Weinstein was discovered responsible in 2020 in New York of first-degree felony sexual act and third-degree rape and was sentenced to 23 years in jail. But he has maintained his innocence, and New York’s highest court docket agreed in August to listen to his attraction within the case.
Within the prosecution’s opening statements, Thompson outlined the ladies’s accusations and famous the similarities of their tales. The ladies will testify that Weinstein lured them into non-public conferences, typically in resort rooms, after which sexually assaulted them, Thompson mentioned.
“I’m shaking and I’m sort of being dragged to the bed room,” he quoted one girl as saying, in keeping with the pool report.
Thompson additionally highlighted the ladies’s understanding of Weinstein’s imposing bodily dimension in addition to his energy in Hollywood to make or break careers, the pool report mentioned.
“I used to be scared that if I didn’t play good one thing might occur within the room or out of the room due to his energy within the trade,” one girl mentioned, in keeping with Thompson.
The ladies allegedly instructed family and friends members about their assaults, and people individuals might also be referred to as to testify within the trial to substantiate or deny such conversations.
Notably, the licensed therapeutic massage therapist instructed Mel Gibson, the famed actor and director, about her assault, Thompson mentioned.
For the protection’s opening statements, Werksman mentioned there was no forensic proof to help any of the allegations. He mentioned the sexual interactions have been transactional and consensual.
“It was the casting sofa. Everybody did it. He did it. They did it. As a result of every needed one thing from one other,” he mentioned.
He took specific purpose at Siebel Newsom and attacked her credibility utilizing crude language.
“She’s made herself a distinguished sufferer within the #MeToo motion … in any other case she’d be simply one other bimbo who slept with Harvey Weinstein to get forward in Hollywood,” Werksman mentioned.
The trial in Los Angeles comes two years after Weinstein was convicted in New York of comparable costs that includes completely different ladies.
The New York costs have been primarily based on testimony from Miriam Haley, who testified that Weinstein forcibly carried out oral intercourse on her in 2006 at his Manhattan condo, and from Jessica Mann, who testified that he raped her in 2013 throughout what she described as an abusive relationship.
He didn’t testify in his personal protection, however at his sentencing he provided an surprising, rambling speech which oscillated between regret, protection of his actions and confusion.
“I’m not going to say these aren’t nice individuals, I had fantastic instances with these individuals, you understand,” Weinstein mentioned of the ladies who accused him of assault. “It’s simply I’m completely confused, and I feel males are confused about all of those points.”
The previous film producer appeared in frail well being in the course of the trial and used a walker as he arrived to and left court docket every day. He used a wheelchair to reach to the sentencing in March 2020 in addition to in a court docket listening to in Los Angeles in July 2021. His attorneys have argued the prolonged jail sentence was a de facto life sentence resulting from his failing well being.