Harvey Weinstein guilty
Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein (67) was found guilty yesterday in New York City of sex crimes including third-degree rape in connection with the allegations from Ms Mann and first-degree criminal sexual assault relating to Ms Haley but was acquitted of the most serious count of predatory sexual assault charges against him, in a verdict that activists and victims declared a victory for women’s rights.
Weinstein faces up to 25 years in prison over the guilty verdicts relating to two women, but his lawyers say he will appeal.
In all 80 women had accused him of sexual misconduct stretching back decades, including actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Uma Thurman and Salma Hayek. The allegations were at the centre of the #MeToo movement that prompted women to the public with misconduct allegations against powerful men.
Weinstein who was escorted out of a New York courtroom in handcuffs and will be sentenced on March 11th, 2020. It is the culmination of a six-week trial that was viewed as a landmark legal test of the #MeToo movement started three years ago by allegations against the film producer.
The high profile case centred on five charges against Weinstein based on two alleged incidents: raping Jessica Mann, an aspiring actress, in 2013, and forcing oral sex on Miriam Haley a production assistant in 2006.
The jury determined that Weinstein was guilty of two of the five felony charges against him.
Prosecutors, who had aimed to depict Weinstein as a violent rapist were challenged by the accusers’ complex relationship with Weinstein. Ms Mann had a sexual relationship with Weinstein for years, a fact his defence team seized on in arguing that woman used him for his Hollywood connections. Weinstein also faces criminal charges of rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles.