Los Angeles –
Harvey Weinstein has sentenced the former movie mogul and Oscar king to rape and sexual assault convictions and sentenced him to a lengthy prison sentence in California. can almost double.
Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Wrench is scheduled to sentence Weinstein, 70, in a courtroom in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday unless she admits a new trial defense. could be sentenced to imprisonment. After being convicted in New York in 2020, he has more than 20 years left on his New York sentence.
A jury in December found Weinstein guilty of one count of rape and two counts of sexually assaulting an Italian model and actor at a 2013 film festival prepping for that year’s Academy Awards. A jury spared Weinstein a longer sentence when he was found not guilty of sexually assaulting a massage therapist and fell short of a verdict on charges involving two other women.
A victim whose dramatic testimony led to a conviction may make a statement about the toll the attack has taken on her.
Last week, Wrench heard from Gloria Allred, an attorney for some of the women who testified at the trial, about a man who was a magnet for the .MeToo movement for five years, that others would make similar statements in court. I declined your request to allow.
“I’m not going to make this an open forum about Mr. Weinstein’s actions,” Wrench said.
The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted.
The judge will first hear Mr. Weinstein discuss his defense motions for a new trial or a downgraded verdict. Weinstein’s attorneys say Wrench’s refusal of evidence he wanted to use at trial proved to his detriment.
Defense attorney claims he should have been allowed to share a private Facebook message showing a sexual relationship between an Italian woman and Pascal Visedomini, director of the Los Angeles Italian Film Festival are doing. .
The motion states that when they testified that they were simply friends and colleagues, the message would have shown that both were under oath. , states that Visedomini is unlikely to give Weinstein her hotel room number. And the message would have reinforced the lawyer’s claim that the woman had spent the night with Visedomini at another hotel that night.
The defense concluded that the two had had a sexual relationship, but Wrench allowed the jury to see only messages between them establishing her timing and place.
The law gives Wrench “single responsibility to rectify adverse wrongs that are often revealed only with the benefit of hindsight,” the attorney wrote in the motion.
Wrench has said that if he denies the defense’s motions, he will immediately decide.
But legal uncertainty will remain on both sides for Weinstein.
The New York Supreme Court has agreed to hear appeals from the rape and sexual assault convictions. has not yet been clarified.
It is not yet clear where he will serve while these matters are resolved.
His New York sentence will be served before a prison sentence in California, but retrials and other issues may prevent him from being repatriated there any time soon.
Weinstein is eligible for parole in New York in 2039.
