Back on stand, Weinstein accuser: ‘He is my rapist’
NEW YORK — A day after breaking down in tears under cross-examination, a key accuser at Harvey Weinstein’s trial returned to a New York City courtroom Tuesday and told jurors: “I want the jury to know that he is my rapist.”
The woman was back on the witness stand for a third and final day as Mr. Weinstein’s lawyers finished an exhaustive review of friendly, sometimes flirtatious emails she sent the film producer after she says he raped her twice in 2013.
They also played a recording she made of herself telling a psychic in April 2014 that Mr. Weinstein “had tried to cross boundaries in my life but I don’t allow him to.”
Mr. Weinstein’s lawyers contend that evidence points to a consensual relationship and shows the 34year-old former actress was a manipulator who gritted her way through sexual encounters with Mr. Weinstein because she enjoyed the perks of knowing him.
“I know the history of my relationship with him,” she pushed back. “I know it was complicated and difficult. But that doesn’t change the fact that he raped me.”
Asked by Weinstein lawyer Donna Rotunno how many times they had consensual sex, the woman responded: “I only remember intercourse the times that he raped me.”
Over the objections of the Oscar-winner’s defense, five photos of a naked Weinstein were passed around to the jurors, who were instructed to review each photo while holding them in a fashion where the crowd inside the courtroom couldn’t get a look. Jurors No. 11 and 12 appeared to wince as they peered upon the images of a naked Weinstein.
Mr. Weinstein, asked as he left the courtroom if the photos from June 18, 2018, were indeed full Harvey nudes, responded, “No, it was Playboy.”
Cross-examination took up most of the woman’s time on the witness stand.
She finished direct testimony back on Friday and prosecutors decided not to ask her any additional questions once Ms. Rotunno was finished Tuesday afternoon.
One reason the defense has focused so much attention on the woman is because her allegations that Mr. Weinstein raped her at a Manhattan hotel in March 2013 are the basis for some of the most serious charges at issue in his trial.
The woman has alleged
Mr. Weinstein raped her again several months later at a Beverly Hills hotel, though she said she is not sure if she will pursue charges there.
While dozens of women have accused Mr. Weinstein of sexual assault or harassment, he is on trial in New York for allegations involving just two episodes with two women: the woman testifying Tuesday and a former film and TV production assistant, Mimi Haleyi, who alleges he forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006. Mr. Weinstein’s downfall energized the #MeToo movement.
As big a factor as Tuesday’s witness is in the case, the defense’s painstaking cross-examination, coupled with her emotional reaction on Monday, could run the risk of alienating jurors and making her appear more sympathetic.
Earlier Tuesday, jurors heard from another supporting witness: an actress who testified that she felt pressured into having an awkward three-way sexual encounter with Mr. Weinstein and the woman he’s charged with raping.