On Thursday, a Los Angeles judge sentenced Harvey Weinstein to 16 years in prison after a jury convicted him of raping and sexually assaulting an Italian actor and model in 2013.
On October 4, 2022, former film producer Harvey Weinstein appears in court at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, California.A Los Angeles judge is set to sentence the former movie mogul to up to 18 years in prison after he was convicted in December of raping and sexually assaulting an Italian model and actor during a 2013 film festival.
Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in prison by a Los Angeles judge on Thursday after a jury convicted him of rape and sexual assault against an Italian actor and model, furthering the fall of the once-powerful movie mogul who became a #MeToo symbol.
Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of rape and sexual assault
Page Contents
- 1 Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of rape and sexual assault
- 2 Jane Doe 1 could be heard crying in court throughout Werksman and Weinstein’s remarks to the judge
- 3 With this episode, “The Masked Singer” introduces its oldest competitor to date
- 4 The subject will almost certainly be raised in Weinstein’s upcoming appeal
When combined with the 23-year sentence he received in 2020 for a similar conviction in New York, the 70-year-old faces life in prison. Weinstein, who was dressed in jail garb and sat in a wheelchair, addressed Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench directly, saying, “I maintain that I’m innocent.” I never raped or sexually assaulted Jane Doe 1.” The woman he was convicted of raping sobbed in the courtroom as Weinstein spoke.
She had previously told the judge about her anguish as a result of Weinstein’s assault. “I was a very happy and confident woman before that night. “And I valued myself and my relationship with God,” the woman, identified only as Jane Doe 1 in court, said through tears as she stood at a lectern behind prosecutors. “I was upbeat about my prospects. Everything changed after the defendant brutally assaulted me. There is no prison sentence that can repair the harm.”
At the trial’s opening in October, jurors convicted Weinstein of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against the woman who gave a dramatic and emotional account of him arriving uninvited at her hotel room during a 2013 film festival in the run-up to the Oscars, talking his way in, and assaulting her during a film festival.
Weinstein was sentenced to a total of 16 years in prison for forcible rape, six years for forcible oral copulation, and two years for forcible penetration with a foreign object. His attorneys requested that she sentence him to three years in prison on each count, to run concurrently.
“In a 50-year career, Mr. Weinstein did a lot of good for a lot of people,” Weinstein’s attorney, Mark Werksman, told the judge. “He was a man whom many famous actors would thank during their Oscar acceptance speeches.”
According to Werksman, Weinstein’s age and poor health make it unlikely that he will ever see his five children outside of prison.
Jane Doe 1 could be heard crying in court throughout Werksman and Weinstein’s remarks to the judge
“This is a made-up story.” Jane Doe 1 is an actress. “She can make you cry,” Weinstein said, claiming he had never met the woman. “Please do not sentence me to life in prison.” It’s unjust to me. There are numerous issues in this case.”
Weinstein was acquitted of sexually assaulting a massage therapist, but the jury was deadlocked on two other counts involving other women.
“Today, justice was served for the survivors.” “Following the sentencing, the massage therapist, known as Jane Doe 3 during the trial, issued a statement through her attorney.” “No woman will ever again have to fear Harvey Weinstein because he will never be released.”
In addition, the defense claims Weinstein had consensual sex with two of the women accused of assaulting him, and that two others made up the incidents entirely.
After rejecting Weinstein’s lawyers’ request for a new trial, Lench handed down the sentence on Thursday. They claimed that the judge erred in excluding messages indicating that the Italian model was having a sexual relationship with the director of the film festival she was attending at the time of the attack from evidence.
With this episode, “The Masked Singer” introduces its oldest competitor to date
Rape shield laws that exclude a victim’s sexual history, according to defense attorney Alan Jackson, are irrelevant here because the defense would have used the messages to show that the woman perjured herself and harmed her credibility when she testified that she and the festival director, Pascal Videcomini, were merely friends and colleagues.
“If the jury had known that Jane Doe 1 and Pascal were intimately involved, they would never have believed the story,” Jackson explained. “We’re confident they wouldn’t have purchased it.” Because some of them have said so.”
According to Jackson, the messages would have bolstered defense claims that the woman was not even in her hotel room, where she testified the attack occurred, but was with Vicedomini. The defense had provided the judge with affidavits from jurors, two of whom were present for the sentencing, claiming that the evidence had influenced their decision.
The juror statements, according to Lench, were “speculation” about how the evidence would have played out and were therefore not legally relevant. The two jurors, Michael and Jay, who only gave their first names, told reporters outside the courtroom that they were not there to advocate for either side, but that hearing about the messages may have influenced their decision.
The subject will almost certainly be raised in Weinstein’s upcoming appeal
Both the prosecution and Weinstein’s attorneys refused to comment on the sentence. The Associated Press does not usually name people who claim to have been sexually assaulted. Weinstein is facing legal consequences on both coasts.
Despite the fact that his appeal against his rape and sexual assault convictions in New York was accepted by the state’s highest court. Prosecutors in Los Angeles have yet to say whether they will retry Weinstein on the counts where a jury was unable to reach a verdict. A hearing to consider the possibility of a retrial is scheduled for next month.
Also Read: Jonathan Groff, Who Is Out Gay, Discusses A Relationship Gone Wrong
