LOS ANGELES — Harvey Weinstein, the producer whose treatment of women fueled the #MeToo movement in 2017, was sentenced on Thursday to 16 years in prison for a sex crime in Los Angeles County.
Mr. Weinstein was ordered to serve his sentence in Los Angeles after the end of the 23-year term he is serving from a sexual assault conviction in New York in 2020. Thursday’s sentencing virtually guarantees that the former Mr. The 70-year-old Hollywood mogul, who is in declining health, will spend the rest of his life in prison.
In December, jurors at Los Angeles Superior Court find Mr. Weinstein guilty on three counts: rape, forced oral intercourse and sexual assault with a foreign object. All three charges involved a woman, known as Jane Doe 1 in court, who said she was raped at her hotel in February 2013 while in town for a Festival film Los Angeles Italia.
Weinstein was not convicted on the other four charges. He was acquitted of one count of sexual abuse involving a massage therapist. The jurors were unable to decide on two counts related to allegations made by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and wife of Governor Gavin Newsom of California, nor could they agree on a stemming count. from Lauren Young, a model and screenwriter.
One of his defense attorneys, Alan Jackson, said after the sentencing Thursday that he intends to file an appeal in the Los Angeles case.
On Thursday, only the woman identified as Jane Doe 1 was allowed to give the victim’s testimony in court. At times bursting into tears and being comforted by her daughter, she said for years she thought she had done something wrong and became “heartbroken, empty and lonely”.
“Inside, I was broken,” she said. He broke me into a million pieces.
The Los Angeles trial was initially seen as symbolic because Mr Weinstein was convicted of a sex crime in New York. But it made more sense after Mr Weinstein was allowed to file an appeal in that case, meaning the California outcome alone could decide his fate.
Mr Weinstein has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than 90 women. Many women have come out with their allegations in an investigation in 2017 of The New York Times, and their voices have fueled the #MeToo movement to expose sexual harassment and assault by powerful individuals.
On Thursday, Mr. Weinstein appeared in a beige prison jumpsuit and in a wheelchair marked “Los Angeles County Jail.” He accused Jane Doe 1 of being motivated by money because she has a pending civil lawsuit against him.
“I never raped or sexually assaulted Jane Doe 1. I never knew this woman, and the truth is, she didn’t know me,” Mr. Weinstein said.
Prosecutors attempted to model Weinstein’s behavior through the testimony of four witnesses whose allegations led to seven counts, as well as through allegations by four other women who were authorized to testify that they was abused by him.
The defense argued that the women had a trading relationship with Mr Weinstein and knowingly engaged in sex with him in exchange for professional favors. In some cases, they say the recollections are inaccurate.
During her cross-examination of Siebel Newsom, Mark Werksman, a defense attorney, accused her of only viewing her experience with Mr Weinstein as negative after the #MeToo movement exploded in 2017. At one point. point, he told jurors that Siebel Newsom was “just another brat who slept with Harvey Weinstein to get ahead.”
After two days of taking testimony, Ms. Siebel Newsom said Weinstein in 2005 in his Beverly Hills hotel room after she agreed to meet with him to discuss her career. She said she didn’t speak up sooner because she tried to ignore the incident as “a way to put aside my sadness, my fear, my hurt, so I could move on with my life.” me”.
Defense attorneys requested a new trial, arguing that the jury was improperly instructed and that they were barred from presenting some evidence regarding Jane Doe 1. Alan Jackson, another attorney Weinstein, told the court his team received affidavits from jurors who said they would make a different decision if they heard that evidence.
Judge Lisa B. Lench denied their request on Thursday.
This is an evolving story. Check back for updates.
