{"id":108859,"date":"2022-10-26T17:13:05","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T17:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/harvey-weinstein-la-trial-testimony-from-alleged-victims\/"},"modified":"2022-10-26T17:13:05","modified_gmt":"2022-10-26T17:13:05","slug":"harvey-weinstein-la-trial-testimony-from-alleged-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/harvey-weinstein-la-trial-testimony-from-alleged-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"Harvey Weinstein LA Trial: Testimony From Alleged Victims"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Harvey Weinstein is back in court in Los Angeles.
\n Photo: JOHANNES EISELE\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Harvey Weinstein is on trial again for sex crimes, this time in Los Angeles. Though the substance of this case closely resembles the New York proceedings that earned him his rape conviction in 2020, this time around, the court will hear from nine of his alleged victims as prosecutors attempt to prove his guilt on 11 counts of sexual abuse, including forceful rape and sexual assault. In opening arguments, they highlighted a now-familiar pattern: Weinstein would target young women in his industry, setting appointments to discuss their careers. When the women showed up, they usually found themselves shuttled to a private space \u2014 Weinstein’s hotel room, for example \u2014 where he would drop any professional pretense and force himself on them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey feared that he could crush their careers if they reported what he had done to them,\u201d deputy district attorney Paul Thompson said of the witnesses, per the New York times<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The defense similarly revived its old tactics, arguing that any sex Weinstein had with the alleged victims was consensual, if also occasionally transactional, in keeping with Hollywood norms. \u201cLook at my client,\u201d Mark Werksman told the jury, according to variety<\/em>. \u201cHe’s not Brad Pitt or George Clooney. Do you think these beautiful women had sex with him because he’s hot? No, it’s because he’s powerful.\u201d Those women, he emphasized, were actors. In the courtroom, they would \u201cplay the part of the damsel in distress with this beast,\u201d he added, calling the forthcoming witnesses liars. \u201cTheir hypocrisy will be on full display.\u201d<\/p>\n

But much of their testimony is expected to mirror the stories already shared by at least 100 women since 2017. Below, the biggest moments from the witness stand.<\/p>\n

In 2013, Jane Doe 1 \u2014 a model and actor then living in Rome \u2014 says she briefly met Weinstein at a Los Angeles film festival and was surprised when he showed up outside her hotel room later that evening, demanding she let him in. Over two days of sometimes tearful testimony, she told the court that after she complied, Weinstein quickly became predatory. But she was confused: English was her second language, and she said she assumed Weinstein \u201cmisunderstood\u201d her when he pivoted the conversation toward massage. \u201cHis face changed. His eyes changed. His behavior changed,\u201d she said, per Deadline. And having been in \u201cbad situations where men beat me,\u201d she said, she was afraid. She estimated that Weinstein had about 150 pounds on her. \u201cHe was expecting that I’m doing what he’s saying and he was \u2026 moving me through the bedroom like I’m an object.\u201d She said he maneuvered her over to the bed, where \u2014 allegedly holding her by the hair \u2014 he forced her to perform oral sex on him. She did n’t scream or try to get away, but she \u201cwas kind of hysterical through tears,\u201d she said, according to the<\/em> Guardian<\/em>. \u201cI kept saying, ‘No, no, no.’\u201d<\/p>\n

When Weinstein couldn’t get an erection, Jane Doe 1 recalled that he walked her into the bathroom and placed her in front of the sink. \u201cHe put his fingers inside me \u2026 my private part,\u201d she tested. \u201cHe hold me and he try to get inside of me with his penis but I was moving.\u201d She said she was crying and still pleading with him to stop. \u201cI remember how he was looking in the mirror and he was telling me to look at him,\u201d she continued. \u201c’C’mon, little girl. Tell me you like it. You like it.’\u201d When he finally finished, she said, he \u201cwas acting like nothing happened,\u201d save for a warning to her not to tell anyone what happened. \u201cMy understanding was that he’s somebody powerful so it’s better I not talk,\u201d the witness explained, acknowledging that she had only given vague outlines of the incident to a couple people and only confessed to her priest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to die,\u201d she said of the alleged attack. \u201cIt was disgusting. It was humiliating.\u201d Jane Doe 1 said she subsequently developed a drinking problem: \u201cI was destroying myself. I was feeling very guilty. Most of all because I opened that door.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its cross-examination, Weinstein’s defense worked to poke holes in the woman’s story. Attorney Alan Jackson questioned how his client found the witness’s room in the first place, and why she did n’t bring \u201cthis terrible breach of protocol\u201d to the attention of hotel management. Jackson also cast doubt on her decision to remain in the room for the rest of her stay in LA: \u201cYou stayed in the very room that you claim were attacked and victimized by a predator sexual?\u201d<\/p>\n