A jury found Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault in his Los Angeles trial Monday, adding to legal woes for the disgraced film producer as he continues to face repercussions from sexual assault allegations that kickstarted the #MeToo movement.
After deliberating for nine days, the jury reached the verdict at the second criminal trial of the 70-year-old former movie mogul. Weinstein is already two years into a 23-year sentence for a rape and sexual assault conviction in New York.
In LA, Weinstein was found guilty of rape, forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count involving a woman known as Jane Doe 1.
The jury hung on several counts, notably charges involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. The jury reported it was unable to reach verdicts in her allegations and the allegations of another woman. A mistrial was declared on those counts.
Weinstein was acquitted of a sexual battery allegation made by another woman.
As the initial guilty counts were read, Weinstein looked down at the table and appeared to put his face in his hands. He looked forward as the rest of the verdict was read. Prosecutors and defense attorneys had no immediate comment on the verdict.
Weinstein faces up to 24 years in prison when he is sentenced.
“Harvey Weinstein will never be able to rape another woman. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars where he belongs,” Siebel Newsom said in a statement. “Throughout the trial, Weinstein’s lawyers used sexism, misogyny, and bullying tactics to intimidate, demean, and ridicule us survivors. The trial was a stark reminder that we as a society have work to do.”
What happened at Weinstein's second sex crimes trial?
Over the course of the more than monthlong trial, prosecutors called 44 witnesses to the stand, including four women who Weinstein was charged with raping or sexually assaulting as they alleged experiences of facing sexual assault and rape at the hands of Weinstein, and the pain, shock and shame felt in the aftermath.
Newsom early screamed through tears from the witness stand on Nov. 14 when she told the court Weinstein raped her in a hotel room and spoke of the devastating effect it had on her in the 17 years since.
Newsom described how nervous she was after being directed to his hotel suite. Asked by Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez why she didn’t walk away, she said: “Because you don’t say no to Harvey Weinstein. He could make or ruin your career.”
Young — the only accuser to testify in both New York and Los Angeles trials — took the stand and said Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a Beverly Hills hotel bathroom in 2013 while she repeatedly told him "no."
Young, who is going by Jane Doe in court, said she was paralyzed by fear when Weinstein blocked her from leaving the bathroom, masturbated in front of her and groped her breasts.
When Young testified in New York in February 2020, she was not one of the accusers whose stories would lead to Weinstein's conviction for rape and sexual assault and a 23-year prison sentence because her alleged encounter with Weinstein took place in California, not New York. Prosecutors called on her at that time as a "prior bad acts" witness to testify to establish an alleged pattern of Weinstein preying on women.
Kelly Sipherd testified that Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a hotel room during the Toronto International Film Festival in 1991 when she was 24 and an aspiring actor, then did it again when she went to confront him in the same hotel during the same festival 17 years later.
More revelations from Harvey Weinstein's second trial in LA
During closing arguments last month, Weinstein's attorney Alan Jackson argued that two of the women were entirely lying about their encounters, while the other two took part in “transactional sex” for the sake of career advancement that was “100% consensual.” But after the #MeToo explosion around Weinstein with stories in the New York Times and the New Yorker — which Jackson called a “dogpile” on his client — the women became regretful.
“Regret is not rape,” Jackson told jurors several times.
Prosecutors concluded their arguments by urging jurors to complete Weinstein’s takedown by convicting him in California.
“It is time for the defendant’s reign of terror to end,” Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez said. “It is time for the kingmaker to be brought to justice.”
Weinstein was already convicted of sex crimes
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for his 2020 New York sex crimes case, during which he was convicted of sexual assault and third-degree rape, though in August he was granted a bid to appeal those charges. He was initially sent to Rikers Island in New York, but was extradited in 2021 to a California county jail as he faced several more similar charges on the West Coast.
Weinstein’s New York conviction survived an initial appeal, but the case is set to be heard by the state’s highest court next year. The California conviction, also likely to be appealed, means he will not walk free even if the East Coast conviction is thrown out.
Contributing: Elise Brisco, Naledi Ushe, Maria Puente, USA TODAY; Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
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