Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars after a Los Angeles jury found him guilty on Monday of raping a woman in 2013.
Following ten days of deliberations, jurors convicted Weinstein, 70, on three of the seven counts he was facing.
He was found guilty of forcible rape, forced oral copulation and sexual penetration by a foreign object, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.
The three counts were related to a former model and actress, referred to in the case as Jane Doe #1, who accused Weinstein of attacking her in a Beverly Hills hotel room in 2013. The woman said he showed up uninvited at her door, while she was in town for a film festival.
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Jurors are scheduled to return to court on Tuesday to consider “aggravating factors” that will be considered in Weinstein’s sentencing hearing. He will be sentenced early next year and could get up to 24 years in state prison.
The jury acquitted Weinstein or was unable to reach a verdict on charges he assaulted three other women in Southern California between 2004 and 2013. Among the accusers was California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom.
Siebel Newsom, now a documentary filmmaker, alleged Weinstein raped her during a business meeting earlier in her career. The jury could not reach a verdict on that count.
While thanking the jurors for their service, L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón said the accusers “deserve better” than Monday’s verdict.
“Reporting sexual assault is never easy. Subjecting oneself to at times brutal cross-examination can be retraumatizing and extraordinarily painful,” he said in a press release. “I stand in awe of their fearlessness. They deserve better than what the system has given them.”
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Gascón also indicated L.A. prosecutors may not be done with Weinstein.
“Our team will meet to determine whether or not we intend to retry the counts that were hung,” he said.
Weinstein was key focus of the #MeToo movement. His world began to crumble in October 2017, when the New York Times and The New Yorker published investigative reports saying dozens of women — including some of the biggest stars in Hollywood — had accused the powerful producer of sexual abuse over the past 30 years.
He admitted in a 2018 article that he traded sex for movie roles, but insisted he never “forced” himself on anyone.
In 2020, Weinstein was convicted by a New York City jury of raping an aspiring actress and committing a criminal sexual act. He was sentenced to 23 years in New York State Prison in that case.
The film and television producer is currently two years into his New York sentence, but was extradited across the country for his L.A. trial.
The once powerful Hollywood producer won a best-picture winner Oscar for producing Shakespeare in Love. Among the other award-winning films he produced were The King’s Speech and Inglourious Basterds.
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