The Trentonian (Trenton, NJ)

PROSECUTIO­N: FIND HIM GUILTY

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Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon went Friday and spoke about another universe — one in which Weinstein’s accusers “were merely ants that he could step on without consequenc­es.”

Weinstein worried about Sciorra because she was an establishe­d star but treated other victims like “complete disposable­s” because they weren’t in his Hollywood orbit and he had the power to make sure they wouldn’t be, Illuzzi said.

One way that Weinstein kept the women quiet was by making them feel embarrasse­d and ashamed, as if they had done something wrong, when it was him forcing them into awkward situations, like asking them to give him a massage, Illuzzi said.

“What he wants to do is he wants to get them in a situation where they feel stupid. If you feel stupid and belittled, belittled, stupid people do not complain,” the prosecutor told jurors.

Illuzzi implored jurors to focus on Weinstein’s conduct, not what the alleged victims in the case may have said or done with him afterward.

For instance, she said, the woman Weinstein is charged with raping could have been madly in love and had his name tattooed on her arm, but “he still would not be allowed to rape her,” Illuzzi said.

Illuzzi finished her threehour talk by reminding jurors how painful it had been for Weinstein’s accusers to come forward, and how, by testifying, they had “sacrificed their dignity, their privacy and their peace” to seek justice.

“They didn’t come for a beauty contest, didn’t come for money, didn’t come for fame, they came to be heard,” she said.

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