GUILTY OF RAPE: Weinstein faces 29 years behind bars
Actress hails the ‘brave women’ who helped put disgraced movie mogul behind bars
HARVEY Weinstein could die behind bars after he was convicted of rape and sexual assault.
The disgraced movie mogul sat emotionless yesterday as he was found guilty of rape in the third degree and criminal sexual assault in the first degree of two women.
The producer faces up to 29 years behind bars if his convictions are imposed consecutively when he is sentenced on March 11.
Weinstein was led away in handcuffs after the verdicts were read out, following almost 27 hours of deliberations by the jury.
His lawyers, who are to lodge an immediate appeal, tried to have him held under house arrest until his sentencing claiming “significant medical issues”.
But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Burke said he would apply for Weinstein to be held at a hospital unit inside New York’s Rikers Island prison. After the verdict, actress Rose McGowan, 46, said Weinstein, 67, will finally know how it feels to have “power wrapped around his neck”.
One of the earliest and most prominent of his accusers, she said: “Today is a powerful day. Every one of us who has come forward, we have a name, we have a history, we have a life, we are more than Weinstein.
“But today, because of the brave women who bared their deepest hurt for the world to see, he’s in Rikers Island. For once he will know what it’s like to have power wrapped around his neck. Today is not a referendum on #MeToo, this is taking out the trash.”
Six women gave testimony during Weinstein’s four-week trial, although he only faced criminal charges in connection to aspiring actress Jessica Mann and TV production assistant Miriam Haley. He was found guilty of third-degree rape against Ms Mann, now 34, and first-degree criminal sexual assault against Ms Haley, 42.
He also faces a further 28 years in jail in Los Angeles if found guilty there on other sex charges.
Weinstein was cleared of the two most serious charges of predatory sexual assault that would have seen him sentenced to life in prison. He was also found not guilty of a fifth charge of rape in the first degree.
First-degree sex crimes involve the use of force or threat while in third-degree offences victims are unable to give consent through, in Weinstein’s case, fear.
He could be jailed for up to 25 years for the criminal sex act and for a maximum of four years for
the rape. More than 80 women have come forward with allegations against Weinstein since he was first accused four years ago.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr said the verdict brought “a new day for survivors of sexual assault” and praised the “heroic” women who testified.
Actress Ashley Judd, who publicly accused Weinstein of sexual harassment, wrote on social media: “For the women who testified in this case, and walked through traumatic hell, you did a public service to girls and women everywhere, thank you.”
British Hollyoaks star Lysette Anthony, who claims he raped her in London in the 1980s, said: “This is the day that truth has won. This is a momentous day and this is the day that hiding behind vicious, petty, transactional [legal] defence was slaughtered. That’s what we did and I am very proud to be part with you all.”
The charges against Weinstein rested on Ms Haley, who he attacked at his Manhattan flat in 2006 and Ms Mann, who he raped in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 when she was an aspiring actress.
During the trial, both acknowledged they continued to see Weinstein after the assaults and later had consensual sex with him.