Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein begged “please don’t sentence me to life in prison, I don’t deserve it” as he was jailed for one more 16 years for rape and sexual assault.
Weinstein, 70, will serve the jail time period after finishing his 23-year-sentence for a sexual misconduct conviction in New York in 2020.
It is due to this fact extremely attainable he’ll spend the remainder of his life in jail.
Weinstein begged for leniency as he was handed the newest sentence in a Los Angeles courtroom at this time.
He was sentenced for the rape of an actress, named solely in courtroom as Jane Doe 1, at a resort in Los Angeles in 2013.
A jury discovered him responsible in December of rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by a overseas object.
Weinstein mentioned: “This is a made up story. Jane Doe 1 is an actress. She can flip the tears on.
“Please don’t sentence me to life in prison. I don’t deserve it. There are so many things wrong with this case.
“There are too many loopholes. Too many issues mistaken with this case.
“This is a set-up. This is not the way to act in this situation.”
He lastly added: “I beg your mercy.”
Dave Ring, a lawyer for Jane Doe 1, mentioned after the decision: “The sentencing today provides Jane Doe 1 with closure and relief, knowing Weinstein will spend the rest of his life in prison where he belongs.
“It took large braveness for Jane Doe 1 and the opposite victims to come back ahead and testify… Weinstein is out of choices.”
Weinstein spokesperson slams ‘cruel sentence’
A lawyer for another of Weinstein’s victims said afterwards that the disgraced producer will now spend the rest of his life in prison “the place he belongs”.
Weinstein, once one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood, has said all of his sexual encounters had been consensual and pleaded not guilty in the Los Angeles case.
Prosecutors called for a “high-term” penalty of 24 years because of the prior conviction, rather than a “mid-term” sentence of 18 years that California law would otherwise prescribe.
Louisette Geiss, one of Weinstein’s accusers, said after the verdict: “While I’m upset that Judge Lench didn’t sentence Harvey Weinstein to the utmost of 18 years, no period of time in jail will erase the harm Weinstein has prompted to the lives and careers of his survivors, together with me.”
Weinstein’s team opposed the district attorney’s recommendation for a high-term, consecutive sentence, given Weinstein’s “superior age and deteriorating well being”.
A spokesperson for Weinstein said after the verdict: “It’s a merciless sentence, given his age, his well being and the circumstances of his conviction in Los Angeles, when the only cost was from an individual who lied, with the decide and prosecutor properly conscious of it and allowing it, about crucial components of her personal declare. It’s not justice, however a pile on for a person many individuals simply determined ought to be solid off and discarded no matter details.”
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The women who fought Harvey Weinstein in court
The jury acquitted Weinstein of costs regarding a second alleged sufferer and failed to achieve a unanimous verdict on costs arising from two different accusers.
One of them, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, now the spouse of California Governor Gavin Newsom, had disclosed she was the alleged rape sufferer referred to in courtroom information as Jane Doe 4.
Weinstein interesting New York conviction
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench declared a mistrial on the deadlocked costs.
Defence attorneys argued that the ladies willingly had intercourse with Weinstein as a result of they believed he would advance their careers, a part of what they mentioned was a widespread “casting couch” tradition within the movie business.
In two of the circumstances, they mentioned the alleged sexual contact was fabricated.
Weinstein was convicted of sexual misconduct in New York in February 2020.
He was extradited from New York to Los Angeles jail in July 2021.
Weinstein is interesting the New York conviction and jail sentence.
Allegations in opposition to Weinstein helped gasoline the #MeToo motion, which has inspired girls to talk out about sexual harassment and abuse by highly effective males in sure industries.
The motion, which went viral on social media in 2017, seeks to interrupt a tradition of silence that has lengthy allowed such conduct to go unchallenged.
Source: information.sky.com”