Weinstein trial: Ex-boyfriend backs accuser
NEW YORK – After a day of graphic testimony in Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes trial, the prosecution called several secondary witnesses to the stand Thursday to corroborate aspects of accusers’ testimony.
One of the witnesses recounted his former girlfriend’s dismay after a meeting with Weinstein. A second witness seemed less certain about what he remembered of an alleged encounter between an accuser and Weinstein at a bar.
Lincoln Davies, a former boyfriend of accuser Dawn Dunning, described her demeanor when she returned home from a meeting with Weinstein in 2004.
“Did she tell you Weinstein met her at the door in a dressing gown?” asked Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Meghan Hast. “Yes,” Davies replied.
“She was pretty shocked, upset, angry and overall appalled, I would say,” Davies testified. “There was an arc of emotion, like anger and stuff like that. … She ended up crying.”
On cross examination by defense attorney Damon Cheronis, Davies said Dunning had looked forward to the meeting with Weinstein and never mentioned being afraid of him even though, as she testified, Weinstein had groped her in a meeting a few weeks before.
Next up was Maurizio Ferrigno, a former manager at Cipriani Soho, the restaurant and bar where accuser Tarale Wulff worked and Weinstein was a frequent guest. He was called to corroborate Wulff’s testimony that Weinstein approached her in the bar, took her upstairs to a dark corner and masturbated in front of her.
Ferrigno acknowledged he saw Weinstein and Wulff having a “conversation” while they headed upstairs, but he didn’t see what happened, didn’t notice her demeanor, didn’t talk to her and didn’t remember when this happened.
“There was nothing unusual that struck you at the time?” Cheronis asked. “Not at the time,” Ferrigno replied.
He said he remembered the interaction at the bar after talking to the district attorney’s office in 2019 and learning that Wulff had made an allegation.
“Are you testifying today because you actually remember seeing Mr. Weinstein going upstairs or because the prosecutors reminded you and told you what Ms. Wulff said? Which is it?” Cheronis asked.
“I can’t say yes or no,” Ferrigno answered.
He said he remembered Weinstein and Wulff going up the stairs. “Did you remember before (prosecutors) told you that happened?” Cheronis asked. “Not really,” Ferrigno said.
The day’s proceedings began with defense attorneys objecting to prosecutors’ calling Davies and Ferrigno, arguing they had not been admitted as witnesses through proper channels.
They were called to back up testimony by Molineux witnesses – accusers whose allegations are not charged but offered to demonstrate an alleged pattern of bad acts by the defendant.
Wednesday, Dunning said she was groped by Weinstein in a hotel room and at a meeting in a different hotel and that she was presented with contracts for roles in his movies in return for agreeing to a threesome. The latter incident would not be a sexual assault, defense attorney Arthur Aidala said.
Judge James Burke allowed both witnesses to testify but cautioned prosecutors to be careful not to conflate the two alleged encounters in the Dunning testimony.