Weinstein gets 23 years for sex assault, rape
Voices sympathy for men accused of misconduct
NEW YORK • Former movie producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced on Wednesday to 23 years in prison for sexual assault and rape after giving a rambling court statement sympathizing with men accused of sexual misconduct during the #Metoo era.
The sentence was handed down in Manhattan criminal court by Justice James Burke — a prison term that Weinstein’s lawyer Donna Rotunno denounced as “obscene” and “cowardly” and promised to appeal. A jury on Feb. 24 found Weinstein — once one of Hollywood’s most powerful men — guilty of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping former aspiring actress Jessica Mann.
Weinstein did not testify during his trial, but spoke at a sentencing hearing in which his accusers described the emotional trauma they have endured thanks to his actions.
“I feel remorse for all of the men who are going through this fight,” Weinstein, 67, told the court before he was sentenced, sounding unrepentant.
More than 100 women, including famous actresses, have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct stretching back decades, fuelling the #Metoo movement against sexual abuse and harassment.
“I’m totally confused,” said Weinstein, addressing the court from a wheelchair behind the defence table.
Weinstein said he was worried about the “thousands of men who are losing due process” during the #Metoo movement just as people in the past had their careers destroyed when they were accused of being communists. “I think that’s what’s happening now all over this country.”
Defense lawyer Rotunno called the 23-year sentence “obnoxious” and said there are murderers who will go free sooner than Weinstein. “I am overcome with anger at that number. I think that number is a cowardly number to give. I think the judge caved, just as I believe the jury caved.”
Weinstein had faced the possibility of a maximum sentence of 29 years in prison.
“I’m not going to say these are not great people. I had great times with these people,” Weinstein said, referring to the women he was convicted of attacking.
Weinstein said that he had worked too hard and put too much pressure on himself, adding, “I’m really trying to be a better person.”
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance told reporters the judge “sent a message today that this type behaviour is something that any potential offender is going to have to consider. The judge took it seriously, which is exactly how we think he should have. And we’re grateful.”
Weinstein’s lawyers urged Burke to impose the minimum possible sentence of five years, asking him to consider Weinstein’s charitable activities while saying a longer sentence would likely mean Weinstein would die in prison.
In an emotional statement in court before the sentence, Haleyi spoke of the trauma she had endured since the attack, saying, “It scarred me deeply, mentally and emotionally, perhaps irreparably, perhaps forever.” She said Weinstein has seemed “completely disconnected from the gravity of the crime he has committed against me.”
Mann also addressed the court.
“I want to remind you I told Harvey, ‘no,’” she said. “I am forced to carry that experience until I die.”
Prosecutors portrayed Weinstein as a serial predator who manipulated women with promises of career advancement in Hollywood, coaxing them to hotel rooms or private apartments and then overpowering and violently attacking them.
“The young struggling dreamers were not even people to him. He could take what he wanted knowing there was very little anyone could do about it,” Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi said after the sentencing.
Weinstein has denied the allegations and said that any sex was consensual.
The jury of seven men and five women acquitted Weinstein on the most serious charges, a single count of first-degree rape as well as two counts of predatory sexual assault, which carried a potential life sentence. Those charges relied on testimony by actress Annabella Sciorra, who said Weinstein raped her in the early 1990s.
Weinstein after the sentencing was sent back to New York’s Rikers Island jail, where he was moved last Thursday after a 10-day hospital stay at Bellevue Hospital where he underwent a procedure to clear a heart blockage.
Weinstein won an Academy Award for producing Shakespeare in Love and was responsible for other acclaimed films including Pulp Fiction, The English Patient and Gangs of New York.
Haleyi testified that Weinstein invited her to his home in 2006 after she’d worked on one of his television productions, backed her into a bedroom, held her down on the bed and forced himself on her orally.
Mann told jurors that Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel room in March 2013, about a month into what she described as an “extremely degrading” relationship with him that continued for several years after the attack. Mann said Weinstein was charming in public but prone to rage when they were alone.
I WANT TO REMIND YOU I TOLD HARVEY ‘NO.’ I AM FORCED TO CARRY THAT EXPERIENCE UNTIL I DIE.