The jailed ex-Hollywood kingpin faces a new 24-year sentence for raping an Italian woman in Los Angeles in 2013.
Disgraced Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty by a jury in Los Angeles, California, of rape and double sexual assault against an Italian actress and model – known as Jane Doe 1.
After a month-long trial and nine days of deliberations, Monday’s three counts mark the second conviction of the one-time Hollywood kingmaker-turned-infamous face of the #MeToo movement in the United States after five sexual abuse allegations surfaced years ago. The jury also acquitted the 70-year-old on Monday or could not reach a verdict in the cases of the three other accusers.
Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted of sex crimes by a court in New York City.
“Harvey Weinstein destroyed a part of me forever that night in 2013 and I will never get that back,” Jane Doe 1 said in a statement released shortly after Monday’s verdict.
“The criminal trial was brutal and Weinstein’s attorneys put me through hell on the stand, but I knew I had to see this through to the end, and I did. I hope Weinstein never sees the outside of a prison cell in his lifetime,” she said.
Weinstein faces up to 18 years in prison on the charges he was convicted on, but aggravating factors could increase that to 24 years.
Lawyers will return to court on Tuesday to present arguments related to aggravating factors.
“Sexism, misogyny and bullying tactics”
The charges Weinstein was acquitted of Monday related to an allegation of sexual harassment by a massage therapist who treated him at a hotel in 2010. The jury also failed to reach a verdict on charges against two other accusers, specifically rape and sexual assault charges against Jennifer Siebel Newsom, documentary filmmaker and wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
“Harvey Weinstein will never be able to rape another woman. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars where he belongs,” Siebel Newsom said in a statement.
“Throughout the trial, Weinstein’s attorneys used sexism, misogyny and bullying tactics to intimidate, demean and ridicule us survivors. The process was a stark reminder that we as a society have a lot to do,” she said.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon said he was “disappointed” that the jury was split on some counts.
But he said he hopes “his partial verdicts bring at least some measure of justice to the victims.”
During five weeks of testimony in Los Angeles Superior Court, prosecutors, including Siebel Newsom, said Weinstein lured them into what they believed to be business meetings. In often graphic statements, the women claimed that the powerful producer of “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love” masturbated in front of them and groped or raped them.
Prosecutors also called 40 other witnesses to provide context and corroboration to these stories.
Four were other women who were not part of the prosecution but testified that Weinstein raped or sexually assaulted them. They said he promised help to secure an audition or a book deal, then arranged meetings where the staff disappeared and left them alone with him.
Weinstein said all his sexual encounters were consensual and pleaded not guilty.
Weinstein was first convicted of sexual misconduct in February 2020 in New York City. In July 2021, he was extradited from New York City to a Los Angeles prison.
Weinstein is appealing his conviction and sentence in New York City.