After a sheriff’s officer complained that Harvey Weinstein was staring at the jury during his sex crimes trial in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the defendant was asked to switch seats.
The 70-year-old man on trial for allegedly molesting five women between 2003 and 2014 had a clear view of the jury box since he was unlawfully seated at the defense table, as reported by The Wrap. The alleged staring occurred in 2013, when the first of eight women expected to testify against Weinstein claimed he raped her in a Beverly Hills hotel room.
She said that during the assault, Weinstein forced her to have oral sex with him, then forced her to use the bathroom, where he tried to puncture her vagina with his fingers and penis and then masturbated because he was having “problems with an erection.” The lady, identified only as “Jane Doe 1” in court documents, alleged that Weinstein threatened her by telling her, “You don’t know me.”
Weinstein’s lawyer argued on Wednesday that their client was behaving appropriately and begged the judge to allow him to continue sitting near to the table because his wheelchair took up a lot of room. After the judge denied Weinstein’s motion, he was ordered to relocate out of the jury’s line of sight; nevertheless, The Wrap reports that he began glaring at the jury almost soon afterward.
A representative for Harvey Weinstein strongly refuted claims that the disgraced actor was looking at anyone on purpose.
Juda Engelmayer told Thursday’s issue of The Daily Beast that guards and lawyers “assist him into a stationary chair and wheel him in.” To alleviate his anxiety over the jury’s possible judgement of him, he is avoiding eye contact with them.
Speaking further, the representative said that Weinstein “has been feeling confident, but anxious” about his approaching second sex crimes trial. Engelmayer continued by saying the prosecution was using Weinstein’s stare at the jury as proof that he was a powerful man who often harassed women and tried to silence them.
Despite the fact that Weinstein is already serving a 23-year term in New York for sex crimes for which he was found guilty, his case is being appealed.
Several prosecution witnesses, including Weinstein’s former limo driver, testified on Thursday in support of Jane Doe 1’s allegations. On the night of the alleged assault in February 2013 at the Beverly Hills Hotel Mr. C., Alfred “Freddy” Barmouth testified that he drove Weinstein to the Peninsula hotel. The driver also mentioned that Weinstein frequently travelled to Mr. C for dinner or business occasions, and that the trip only took six minutes.
The driver also described what it was like to work for the now-infamous producer until 2017, including how he often had to hurry Weinstein from one function to the next.
It didn’t matter whether we ran a red light because we were running late. If we were in a hurry, we’d race through it,” he replied, to the amusement of the jurors.
FAQs
Why does everyone know Harvey Weinstein?
Weinstein, 70, has pled not guilty to all 11 allegations brought against him, which include rape and sexual assault, for allegedly using his position in the entertainment industry to entice and abuse five women in Los Angeles between 2004 and 2013. If he is proven guilty, he faces a possible sentence of 140 years in prison.
What was the final decision about Harvey Weinstein?
Weinstein was found guilty in February 2020 on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and third-degree rape. He was sentenced to 23 years in jail in New York.
In what way has Harvey Weinstein degenerated?
While inside bars for 23 years, the disgraced producer will have the opportunity to argue his case before the New York Court of Appeals.
The question is, what gave Harvey Weinstein his power?
Numerous films were made by Weinstein’s two firms, Miramax and The Weinstein Company, which attest to his prominence in the entertainment industry. Numerous actors’ careers were launched from those films.
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