CNN
—
Two years after his conviction on rape and sexual assault costs, disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein is once more set to go on trial on comparable costs in Los Angeles.
Weinstein, 70, has pleaded not responsible to costs together with 4 counts of rape, 4 counts of forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by pressure and sexual battery by restraint in incidents courting from 2004 to 2013.
Weinstein was already found guilty in New York of first-degree felony sexual act and third-degree rape and was sentenced to 23 years in jail.
The New York costs have been based mostly on testimony from Miriam Haley, who testified that Weinstein forcibly carried out oral intercourse on her in 2006 at his Manhattan condominium, and from Jessica Mann, who testified that he raped her in 2013 throughout what she described as an abusive relationship.
He didn’t testify in his personal protection, however at his sentencing he supplied an surprising, rambling speech which oscillated between regret, protection of his actions and confusion.
“I’m not going to say these aren’t nice individuals, I had great occasions with these individuals, you understand,” Weinstein stated of the ladies who accused him of assault. “It’s simply I’m completely confused, and I feel males are confused about all of those points.”
Weinstein has maintained his innocence, and New York’s highest court agreed in August to listen to his attraction within the case.
The previous film producer appeared in frail well being through the trial and used a walker as he arrived to and left court docket every day. He used a wheelchair to reach to the sentencing in March 2020 in addition to in a court hearing in Los Angeles in July 2021. His attorneys have argued the prolonged jail sentence was a de facto life sentence resulting from his failing well being.
As founding father of Miramax Movies, Weinstein was probably the most highly effective males in Hollywood and helped produce films reminiscent of “Pulp Fiction,” “Clerks” and “Shakespeare in Love.”
In 2017, investigative stories by The New York Times and The New Yorker revealed Weinstein’s alleged historical past of sexual abuse, harassment and secret settlements as he used his affect as a Hollywood energy dealer to make the most of younger girls.
The revelations led to a wave of ladies talking publicly concerning the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and harassment in what grew to become often called the #MeToo motion.
