Guilty: Weinstein to be jailed for rape
:: Movie mogul ‘humiliated and silenced victims’ and now faces up to 25 years in jail
A JURY has found movie mogul Harvey Weinstein – once renowned as the most powerful man in Hollywood – guilty of rape. The 67-year-old could be sentenced to 25 years in jail.
HARVEY WEINSTEIN has been found guilty of rape in the third degree and criminal sexual assault, but cleared of the most serious charges of predatory sexual assault by a court in New York.
Jurors took a week to find the Hollywood film producer guilty on two of five counts. Their verdict on each charge had to be unanimous or else a mistrial would be declared.
Jurors concluded Weinstein (67) forcibly performed oral sex on Mimi Haley in 2006, in his New York apartment. They also found him guilty of raping Jessica Mann in 2013.
But they did not find him guilty of predatory sexual assault, meaning they did not find Annabella Sciorra’s testimony convincing. Ms Sciorra was called to support the charges of predatory sexual assault, which require proving a defendant attacked at least two victims.
For a criminal sex act he faces a minimum sentence of five years, and a maximum of 25. For rape in the third degree sentencing ranges from probation to four years behind bars. He has been remanded in custody until March 11.
After the verdict New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr said: “This is the new landscape for survivors of sexual assault in America, I believe, and it is a new day. It is a new day because Harvey Weinstein has finally been held accountable for crimes he committed.
“Weinstein is a vicious, serial sexual predator who used his power to threaten, rape, assault and trick, humiliate and silence his victims.”
Mr Vance praised the women who testified against Weinstein. “These are eight women who hauled our justice system into the 21st century, by declaring that rape is rape, sexual assault is sexual assault, no matter what,” he said.
“Rape is rape, whether it is committed by a stranger in a dark alley or by an intimate partner, in a working relationship.
“Rape is rape whether by a homeless person or by a man with immense power and prestige and privilege.
“Rape is rape whether it is reported in an hour, or a year, or never.
“It’s rape despite the complicated dynamics of power and consent. It’s rape even if there is no physical evidence, and even if it happened a long time ago.”
The jury had begun deliberating on February 18 after hearing three weeks’ of evidence from six women who accused him of rape and sexual assault.
Although the prosecution case rested on the testimonies of six women, the jury considered charges related to just two: Ms Haley, who accused him of forcibly performing oral sex on her in his Manhattan apartment in 2006, and Ms Mann, who said he raped her in a Manhattan hotel in 2013. The other claims were too old to prosecute.
Other women – among them ‘Sopranos’ actress Ms Sciorra – were allowed to testify in court to bolster Miss Haley and Miss Mann’s accounts.
Weinstein’s legal team, led by Chicago-based Donna Rotunno, argued the Brooklyn-born mogul only ever had consensual sexual relations with the women.
Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon argued Weinstein was a violent sexual predator who preyed on vulnerable women.
Weinstein, she told the court, showed over decades “a wanton lack of human empathy”, abusing a series of aspiring actresses and producers.
‘The victims were standing in line to get into his universe’
“He had a sure-fire insurance policy,” she said, explaining how his behaviour went unpunished for years. “The victims were standing in line to get into his universe.”
The case, she said, was all about “power, manipulation and abuse”.
“It’s an extraordinarily competitive industry. You have to look a certain way, hang out with certain people, do all these things,” she said.
“Every time you are analysing this case, it’s Harvey Weinstein everything: victims, nothing.”
Over the course of three weeks, six women told the jurors about their encounters with Weinstein, frequently choked up by tears. Ms Mann even suffered a panic attack on the witness stand and had to be escorted, hyperventilating, out of the courtroom.
Some women told the jury Weinstein ignored pleas of “no, no, no” as he assaulted them. Ms Mann said he would turn violent when he could not get his way and added: “If he heard the word ‘no’, it was like a trigger for him.”
Another woman recalled Weinstein sneering, “You’ll never make it in this business, this is how this industry works” when she laughed off his advances.
Weinstein has also been charged in Los Angeles, so acquittal would not have seen him off the hook.