CNN –
[Breaking news update, published at 6:05 p.m. ET]
A Los Angeles jury reached a verdict Monday in the sexual assault trial of Harvey Weinstein, the former movie producer accused of using his Hollywood influence to lure women to private meetings and assault them. The verdict will be announced shortly.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to seven charges in total: two counts each of forcible rape, sexual assault by restraint and forcible oral copulation, and one count of sexual penetration with a foreign object.
If convicted, Weinstein could face 60 years to life in prison, plus an additional five years.
The verdict was reached as jurors entered their third week of deliberations, meeting for a total of 41 hours over a 10-day period.
Weinstein was convicted of similar charges in New York in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
[Original story, published at 2:02 p.m. ET]
A Los Angeles jury resumed deliberations Monday in Harvey Weinstein’s second sexual assault trial, meeting for a tenth day to decide on a verdict after weeks of testimony.
The disgraced movie mogul, accused of using his Hollywood influence to lure women to private meetings and assault them, awaits a decision behind bars.
Weinstein faces two counts of forcible rape and five counts of sexual assault related to allegations by four women, including Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who alleged that Weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2005.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges against him. He initially faced 11 charges, but four charges related to an unnamed woman were dropped after she did not testify.
The jury had already deliberated for a total of 37 hours when it adjourned last Wednesday, without reaching a verdict.
The former film producer is already serving a 23-year sentence for a sexual assault conviction in New York. His lawyers have appealed that sentence, which has put more attention on the outcome of the trial in Los Angeles.
If the jury in Los Angeles finds him guilty, Weinstein could face 60 years to life in prison, plus an additional five years.
The Los Angeles jury deliberated longer than the New York jury in Weinstein’s first criminal trial, in which he was convicted of criminal sexual act and third-degree rape after 26 hours of deliberations.
As deliberations took place in Los Angeles, the jury asked the court a question and at least twice asked for testimony to be read. Los Angeles Superior Court officials have not provided details on those requests.
The week-long trial in Los Angeles saw emotional testimony from Weinstein’s accusers — a model, a dancer, a masseuse and Siebel Newsom — all of whom were asked to recount the details of their allegations against him, which provided details of meetings with the producer years ago. , and explain their reactions to the alleged assaults.
In closing arguments, Los Angeles County Assistant District Attorney Marlene Martinez called Weinstein a “titan” who used his power in Hollywood to prey on and silence women.
“Rapists rape. You can look at the pattern,” fellow prosecutor Paul Thompson told jurors.
“You have irrefutable and overwhelming evidence about the nature of this man and what he did to these women,” Thompson said.
Meanwhile, Weinstein’s lawyers have maintained that the allegations were fabricated or consensually produced as part of a “transactional relationship” with the movie producer, repeatedly saying there is no evidence of assault.
Defense lawyer Alan Jackson called the accusers “seekers of fame and fortune”.
The Los Angeles trial included testimony from the four accusers identified as Jane Does in court and other witnesses, including experts, law enforcement, friends of the accusers and former Weinstein aides.
In addition, four women testified that they were subjected to similar behavior by Weinstein in other jurisdictions.
Each morning at the trial, Weinstein was brought from a correctional facility and brought into the Los Angeles courtroom wearing a suit and tie and holding a composition notebook.
All of his accusers began their emotional testimony often by identifying him in the courtroom as he watched.
“He’s wearing a blue suit and tie and he’s staring at me,” Siebel Newsom said last month, before what was one of the most emotional moments of the trial.
On Thursday last week, defense attorney Jackson asked jurors if they could “accept what (Jane Does) says as gospel,” arguing that what they said was a lack of forensic evidence to support her claim. .
“Five words that sum up the entirety of the prosecution’s case: ‘Take my word for it,'” Jackson said. “‘Take my word that he showed up at my hotel room unannounced. Take my word that I showed up at his hotel room. Take my word that I didn’t consent. Believe -me on my word, that I said no.
Siebel Newsom described a “cat and mouse period” lasting several hours, which preceded her alleged assault. She, like other accusers, described feeling “frozen” that day.
Weinstein’s lawyers do not deny the incident, but said they believe it was consensual.
Jackson called the incident “consensual, transactional sex,” adding, “Grief is not the same as rape. And it’s important that we make that distinction in this courtroom.”
Women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Jane Doe 2 in the case, told CNN she hopes the jury will see that her client “has no reason to do anything but tell the truth.”
“She never sought or received any compensation … She no longer lives in California. But she is testifying because she has been asked to testify and I hope she will be seen as the young woman she was when she met Harvey Weinstein, and the woman she is today about nine or 10 years later. His life has changed,” Allred said.
“To be willing to submit to what could be a very brutal interrogation. That takes a very special person to do that. And he is a special person. I’m very proud,” Allred said.
In his closing arguments, Martinez also emphasized that the women who testified chose to go all out knowing they would face harsh conditions in court.
“The truth is, as you sit here, we know the despicable behavior that the defendant engaged in. He thought he was so powerful that people would … excuse his behavior,” Martinez said. “That’s just Harvey being Harvey. That’s just Hollywood. And for so long that’s what everybody did. Everybody turned their heads.”