A prosecutor at Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault trial informed jurors Tuesday that the accusers who will testify will inform uncannily related tales of themselves as younger aspiring girls who have been cornered in resort rooms by a person who on the time was the definition of Hollywood energy.
“Each of these women came forward independent of each other, and none of them knew one another,” Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson mentioned throughout his opening assertion at Weinstein’s Los Angeles trial.
The 70-year-old former film mogul, already serving a 23-year sentence in New York, is charged with a number of counts of rape and sexual assault in California.
The protection countered in its opening assertion that the incidents both didn’t occur or have been consensual intercourse that the ladies redefined within the wake of the #MeToo motion.
Weinstein, prosecutor Thompson mentioned, lorded his standing as “the most powerful man in Hollywood” over them, speaking in regards to the feminine A-list actors whose careers he had made earlier than rising aggressive.
Thompson performed a video presentation with composite images of the ladies who will testify and quotes from prior testimonials. Most have been aspiring actors. One was an aspiring screenwriter who thought she was going to pitch him a script.
All will testify that Weinstein ignored clear indicators that they didn’t consent, the prosecutor mentioned, together with “their shaking bodies, their crying, their backing away from him, their saying ‘no.’” Four girls whom Weinstein just isn’t charged with assaulting within the case may also testify about what he did to them to display his propensity for such acts, Thompson mentioned.
Weinstein legal professional Mark Werksman informed jurors that what Weinstein did with the ladies was thought of acceptable, “transactional” conduct in Hollywood, the place younger girls have been looking for roles and different benefits by having intercourse with the highly effective film magnate.
“You’ll learn that in Hollywood, sex was a commodity,” Werksman mentioned.
The accusers Weinstein is charged with assaulting are anticipated to be recognized solely as Jane Doe in courtroom, however they embody Jennifer Siebel Newsom, an actor and documentary filmmaker who’s married to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Siebel Newsom had not but met Newsom and was an aspiring actor in 2005 when, in accordance with his indictment, Weinstein raped her at a Beverly Hills Hotel.
Without utilizing her title, either side mentioned she would testify. Werksman referred to as her a really distinguished citizen of California.”
“She’s made herself a prominent victim in the #MeToo movement,” he added, “otherwise she’d be just another bimbo who slept with Harvey Weinstein to get ahead in Hollywood.”
In an announcement to The Associated Press, Elizabeth Fegen, who represents Siebel Newsom and two different Weinstein accusers, referred to as the feedback “despicable, desperate, dishonest.”
“The defense is callously engaging in misogynistic name-calling and victim-shaming — but survivors will not be deterred,” she added.
Werksman mentioned Siebel Newsom and lots of different girls within the case had contact, and even initiated dealings, with Weinstein within the years after the encounters, usually referring to him affectionately.
In an try to go off this technique, Thompson informed jurors that they might hear from a psychologist who will dispel rape myths. Key amongst them is the concept that a sexual assault sufferer wouldn’t have additional contact with their assailant.
Werksman mentioned that Weinstein’s consensual acts have been reworked in October 2017 with “the asteroid called the #MeToo movement.”
“He became the smoldering, radioactive center of it,” Werksman mentioned. “He is Hollywood’s Chernobyl.”
He mentioned that there was out of the blue “a new word” for the ladies, “victim.”
The AP doesn’t usually title individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused until they arrive ahead publicly. Siebel Newsom’s id was first reported by the Los Angeles Times, and her legal professional has informed the AP and different information retailers that she is among the many girls Weinstein is charged with sexually assaulting who will testify through the trial.
The first of Weinstein’s accusers to testify, a mannequin and actor who was dwelling and dealing in Italy when she met him at a movie pageant in Los Angeles in 2013, mentioned she was shocked to seek out him knocking on the door of her resort room after interacting with him briefly earlier that night.
She mentioned she was extra confused than frightened at first, so she let Weinstein in, however he grew extra aggressive. She mentioned he ultimately compelled her to carry out oral intercourse.
“I was crying, choking,” mentioned the girl.
She grew more and more emotional on the stand till she was sobbing a lot that she may now not converse.
With the courtroom day close to an finish, Judge Lisa Lench referred to as for a recess till Tuesday morning, when she’ll return to the stand.
At the start of the day, Weinstein was wheeled into courtroom carrying a go well with, and climbed right into a seat subsequent to his attorneys.
Confusion arose when Thompson throughout his opening assertion made no point out of 1 accuser who had been set to testify as not too long ago as final week. Weinstein was indicted on 11 counts general, 4 of which concerned the girl who was not talked about. The district legal professional’s workplace didn’t handle why the girl was not referenced.
Outside courtroom, Weinstein’s legal professional mentioned no expenses had been dismissed.
“The people left her out of their presentation, so I didn’t mention her,” he mentioned. “It’s a glaring absence, though, in their presentation.”
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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
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For extra on the Harvey Weinstein trial, go to: https://apnews.com/hub/harvey-weinstein
Source: www.bostonherald.com”