- Writing
- BBC News World
image source, Getty Images
Harvey Weinstein is serving a 23-year prison sentence.
After weeks of hearings and nine days of deliberations, a California jury found former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein guilty of rape and sexual assault on Monday.
The former movie mogul awaited sentencing behind bars.
And it is that he was already sentenced on similar charges to 23 years in prison in New York in 2020.
In this case, she was facing two counts of rape and another five of sexual assault for events that supposedly occurred between 2005 y 2013 in Los Angeles.
And the jury found it guilty of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assaultand not guilty of another of the charges of sexual assault.
Now he hopes to know the sentence, which could add up to 24 years to the time he must remain in prison.
Mistrial
For the other three charges the jury was unable to reach a verdict, so a mistrial was declared.
image source, Getty Images
Weinstein was extradited from New York to face trial in Los Angeles in July.
Among these is the charge related to the accusations of one of the four women who led him to sit on the bench again: Jennifer Siebel Newsom, filmmaker and wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom.
by Siebel News alleged that Weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2005.
Weinstein, 70, had pleaded not guilty to all seven charges against him.
He initially faced 11 charges, but four charges involving an unidentified woman were dropped after she failed to testify.
Key case for #MeToo
The wall of impunity that surrounded the producer, who at the time reigned in Hollywood, began to break down in October 2017, when the journalists Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey published in the newspaper The New York Times an investigation about him.
This gave shape to the movement now known as #MeToo and his sentence in February 2020 was considered exemplary.
So much so that it helped transform the judicial system of that state, where the law for adult survivors of abuse has already entered into force, which creates a one-year window to initiate proceedings against the rapist or harasser regardless of when the crime occurred. .
“It’s time to finish the reign of terror of the defendant,” Assistant District Attorney Marlene Martinez said during closing arguments at the trial in Los Angeles.
He added that Weinstein he used his power to trick womenwho went to the hotel where he was staying or who let him into their rooms without having any idea of what awaited them.
“Who would suspect that such a titan of the entertainment industry would be a degenerate rapist?”
The details heard during the trial were reminiscent of other testimonies from women that have come to light since the Weinstein case became the banner of the movement. #MeToo.
However, it was the defense that brought up the movement during this process, stressing that none of the four women went to authorities at the time and that they did not speak until Weinstein was in the spotlight.
Remember that you can receive notifications from BBC Mundo. Download our app and activate them so you don’t miss our best content.