Harvey Weinstein would not plan to testify at his New York intercourse crimes retrial, his lawyer mentioned. That means jurors quickly will get the case towards the previous film studio boss who propelled the #MeToo motion towards sexual misconduct.
The trial will transfer on to closing arguments Tuesday with out testimony from Weinstein, Arthur Aidala mentioned. The court docket handles different circumstances on Mondays.
It’s unclear whether or not jury deliberations would start Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday.
It was a fraught choice for Weinstein, who has by no means answered questions in open court docket about any of the accusations girls have made. He didn’t testify at earlier trials in New York and California and was convicted in each. He denies the allegations, and legal professional Aidala has mentioned that Weinstein was giving a whole lot of thought as to if to take the stand this time.
While his California attraction winds on, Weinstein gained a brand new trial in his New York rape and sexual assault case when the state’s highest court docket overturned his 2020 conviction.
He’s charged in New York with raping Jessica Mann in 2013 and forcing oral intercourse on Miriam Haley and Kaja Sokola, individually, in 2006. Mann was an actor and hairstylist, Haley a manufacturing assistant and producer, and Sokola a mannequin who aspired to an appearing profession.
All three girls have testified for days on the retrial, giving emotional and graphic accounts of what they are saying they endured from a powerbroker who urged he’d assist them obtain their show-business desires, however then maneuvered them into personal settings and preyed on them.
His attorneys have argued that something that occurred between him and his accusers was consensual.
In the U.S., defendants in felony circumstances aren’t obligated to testify, and plenty of resolve to not, for numerous causes. Among them: the prospect of being questioned by prosecutors.
Weinstein has been watching the New York retrial intently from the protection desk, generally shaking his head at accusers’ testimony and infrequently leaning over to at least one or one other of his attorneys to convey his ideas.
One of the attorneys, Aidala, mentioned exterior court docket Thursday that Weinstein thought a whole lot of holes had been poked within the accusers’ accounts, however that he additionally was pondering whether or not jurors would really feel they wanted to listen to from him.
The jury has heard from just a few different protection witnesses — one in all them through a transcript learn by court docket staff.
That witness, Talita Maia, testified on the 2020 trial however was unavailable this time, so jurors as a substitute obtained a studying Friday of her earlier testimony. One court docket stenographer voiced the 2020 attorneys’ questions, whereas one other stenographer sat within the witness field and rendered Maia’s solutions, at occasions with emphasis.
Maia and Mann have been roommates and mates in 2013 however later fell out. According to Maia, Mann by no means talked about in these days that Weinstein had damage her in any approach. Both Maia and one other witness, Thomas Richards, met up with Mann and Weinstein shortly after Mann has mentioned she was raped.
Both witnesses testified that they noticed nothing amiss. Richards, who was subpoenaed to look and mentioned he did not need to be seen as a Weinstein supporter, recalled Mann and Weinstein having “pleasant dialog” at a meal he shared with them that day.
Mann testified earlier this month that she by no means informed police or anybody else that Weinstein had sexually assaulted her as a result of she did not suppose she’d be believed, and he or she was scared at how he may react.
Weinstein’s protection additionally introduced in Sokola pal Helga Samuelsen, who additionally has pleasant ties to the previous producer. Samuelsen testified Thursday that Weinstein visited Sokola as soon as and spent a few half-hour in a bed room together with her in a New York house the ladies briefly shared in 2005; Sokola informed jurors no such factor occurred.
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