EXCITED BY VICS’ ‘FEAR’
DA lashes Harv, jury to get case
they don’t get to complain when they’re stepped on, spit on, demoralized, raped and abused by him,” the prosecutor continued. “You will see the defendant not only ran roughshod over [the accusers’] dignity … He made sure he had contact with the people he was worried about, to make sure one day they wouldn’t walk out from the shadows and call him exactly what he was: An abusive rapist.”
Speaking 24 hours after defense attorney Donna Rotunno alleged that actress Annabella Sciorra falsely accused Weinstein of rape, Illuzzi recounted how “The Sopranos” actress testified in chilling detail about the early-’90s night when the movie mogul appeared uninvited at her Manhattan apartment.
“Here comes the defendant busting through her front door,” recalled Illuzzi. “He starts undoing her shirt and she says, ‘Whoa, I don’t know what you think you’re doing here — this is not happening, get out.’ He’s pushing her back and he’s backing her up and he’s backing her up.
“She fought, she punched, she kicked. She did whatever she could until she couldn’t fight anymore.”
Accuser Jessica Mann, who charged Weinstein with raping her twice yet acknowledged some of their sex was consensual, gave the jurors an honest account of their strange relationship, the prosecutor said.
Illuzzi recounted Mann’s tale of a “golden shower” where she looked away as Weinstein urinated on her. “Does that sound to you, normal adults, like a consensual situation?” asked the prosecutor.
Illuzzi said the victimsturned-witnesses were all intimidated by the high-profile Weinstein and reluctant to accuse the high-profile star of the cinematic world.
“When you’re the only one and he’s a giant, not only in his own industry, but he’s somebody who gets presidents on the phone and he’s talking to A-listers — people you’ll never meet in your entire life — you’re hesitant,” she said.
The jury of seven men and five women will begin deliberations Tuesday after receiving final instructions from Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Burke.
Illuzzi drew laughs when she referred to earlier defense questions wondering why Sciorra didn’t ask Sylvester Stallone or Robert De Niro, her co-stars in the movie “Cop Land,” for help with her Weinstein issues.
“You guys know that Sylvester Stallone is not really Rambo, right?” the prosecutor asked the jury. “And you guys know that Robert De Niro is not really ‘The Godfather’?”
The prosecutor circled back to the allegation that Weinstein’s accusers had all concocted phony tales of rape and sexual abuse implicating a man accused of sexual improprieties by an estimated 90 women.
“Seriously, who would put themselves here?” asked Illuzzi. “Who would want to do this?” really