Minaj brother sentenced for girl’s rape
The latest woman to testify against disgraced film tycoon Harvey Weinstein broke into tears Monday as she explicitly described for a Manhattan jury how he allegedly sexually assaulted her in his SoHo loft in 2006 and pressured her into unwanted sex two weeks later in a Tribeca hotel room.
Mimi Haley testified that despite her desperate pleas and futile attempts to fight him off, Weinstein easily overpowered her during the assault on July 10, 2006, pinning her down against her will before he pulled out her tampon and forcibly performed oral sex on her.
“I just said, ‘No, no. I don’t want this to happen. This is not going to happen. I’m on my period,’ ” Haley recalled. “I was just trying to tell him anything — just to get him to stop.”
The former production assistant said she realized Weinstein wasn’t going to stop when he aggressively ramped up his efforts to subdue her, using his body to push her
“He said something like, ‘You’re a whore and a bitch,’ ” she added. “I was lying there very emotionless saying to myself, I’m not a bitch. I’m not a whore.”
Prosecutors have accused the fallen Hollywood mogul of raping and sexually assaulting multiple young women, including Haley, over the course of decades. More than 90 women have come forward globally alleging they were Weinstein’s victims.
Last week, “Sopranos” actress Annabella Sciorra gave riveting testimony of how Weinstein allegedly barged into her Manhattan apartment and sexually assaulted her after they met for dinner in the winter of 1993-94.
Haley, 42, was introduced to Weinstein in 2004 at the European premiere of the movie “The Aviator” and later worked as a production assistant on “Project Runway” in New York.
She changed the spelling of her last name from “Haleyi” to “Haley” shortly after she went public with her allegations against Weinstein.
Haley, who lives in London, said she initially feared speaking up about the assault because she had illegally worked on the show while staying in the U.S. on a tourist visa.
“Also, obviously Mr. Weinstein has a lot more power and resources and connections and so forth,” she added. “I didn’t think I really stood a chance.”
Weinstein, 67, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, faces two counts of predatory sexual assault, two counts of rape and one count of criminal sexual act. If convicted of the top charge, he faces life in prison.
Weinstein’s attorneys tried to dismiss Haley’s account of events on cross-examination late Monday, sharing text messages and emails they said suggested she wanted to keep seeing him.
“The truth is that you had a consensual relationship with Mr. Weinstein,” lawyer Damon Cheronis said to Haley.
“A consensual sexual relationship? No,” she replied.
The brother of rapper Nicki Minaj was sentenced to 25 years to life on Monday on Long Island for raping his stepdaughter.
Jelani Maraj was convicted in 2017 in Nassau County Court of repeatedly raping his then 11year-old stepdaughter.
“She was 11 years old and you did this,” State Supreme Court Justice Robert McDonald told Maraj (inset bottom) in Nassau County Court, Newsday reported.
The judge then turned to the victim, who was present in the courtroom.
“I sat there and I believed every word you said,” he said of her trial testimony.
The girl testified at the trial that Maraj anally raped her and slapped her in the face at their Baldwin home before telling her to keep quiet about his actions.
“He would call me his puppet and told me I had no say in what he did to me,” she testified in October of that year, saying Maraj sexually abused her multiple times.
The girl — who was 14 when she gave her testimony — said the first assault took place in April 2015 in Maraj’s bedroom.
She testified the abuse continued for months, even after her brother walked in on Maraj assaulting her.
The victim said she asked her then 8-year-old brother not to tell their mother.
Maraj denied the allegations, claiming the charges were a shakedown by his then wife, who allegedly sought $25 million in hush money.
Maraj’s attorney appealed conviction in 2018, claiming that there was jury misconduct, Newsday reported.
McDonald ordered an inquiry into claims that an alternate juror said during the trial that if the defendant’s famous sister (inset top) did not testify Maraj must be guilty.
McDonald ruled in October that the defense did not meet the “burden of proof that any misconduct here created a significant risk that a substantial right of the defendant was prejudiced,” Newsday reported.