GUILTY! Harvey Weinstein Found Guilty of Two Charges Brought Against Him, Here Are The Charges and What He’s Facing Now
Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was finally found guilty of two of the five charges brought against him by a number of women.
The two charges that the jury found Weinstein guilty of are sexually assaulting production assistant Mimi Haleyi and third-degree rape of another woman from back in 2013.
The more serious charge of predatory sexual assault would have landed him a life sentence if he were convicted of that charge. However, depending on what sentence he is actually given, it will likely result in a life sentence essentially.
According to Fox News,
The verdict followed weeks of often harrowing and excruciatingly graphic testimony from a string of accusers who told of rapes, forced oral sex, groping, masturbation, lewd propositions and that’s-Hollywood excuses from Weinstein about how the casting couch works.
The jury of seven men and five women handed down the on Monday after five days of deliberating.
Weinstein has maintained any sexual encounters were consensual.
The case marks the only criminal trial to stem from the many accusations that came out about Weinstein following a bombshell expose written by Ronan Farrow in 2017 in which 13 women accused the now-disgraced movie mogul of sexual assault.
As expected, Weinstein chose not to testify, avoiding the risk of having prosecutors grill him on cross-examination about the vile allegations. He confirmed the decision on Feb. 11 after returning to the courtroom from meeting with his lawyers behind closed doors for about a half-hour as speculation swirled that he was pushing to testify.
When he was asked as he left court if he was thinking about testifying, Weinstein replied, “I wanted to.”
“Mr. Weinstein sat between his lawyers looking straight ahead when it was announced that the jury had reached a verdict,” the New York Times reports. “Four court officers stood behind him, and Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, sat nearby in the front row of the courtroom.”
“Mr. Weinstein appeared unmoved as the verdict was read,” the Times notes. “He was found not guilty on the two counts of predatory sexual assault, which suggests that one or some jurors did not believe the testimony of Annabella Sciorra, an actress best known for her work in ‘The Sopranos.’”