Harvey Weinstein is found GUILTY of 7 sex-related counts in Los Angeles court

Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault by a Los Angeles court – nearly three years after the mogul was sentenced for sex crimes in New York City.

The verdicts were delivered Monday by a West Coast panel of nine men and three women, who were unable to reach a decision on three other counts, including those  aired by the wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who alleged Weinstein raped her in 2005.

The jury was also unable to reach verdicts on allegations involving model Lauren Young, called Jane Doe 2 during proceedings – forcing jurists to declare a mistrial on those counts.

Weinstein, now 70, was found guilty of rape and two other counts of sexual assault offered by an unidentified Russian-born, Italy-based model, referred to as Jane Doe 1.

Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault, nearly three years after the movie mogul was sentenced for similar crimes in New York City

The disgraced mogul – whose crimes spawned growth of the #MeToo movement in 2017 – was also acquitted of a sexual battery allegation made by another woman, an unnamed massage therapist who treated Weinstein at a hotel in 2010, known as Jane Doe 3.

Of the charges to stick, Weinstein – currently two years into a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault convictions in New York – was found guilty of rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by foreign object of the unnamed Russian model. 

This means he was found guilty of three out of seven possible counts in the trial. 

Weinstein, bound to a wheelchair for the proceedings, did not audibly react but he folded his hands and pressed them to his head as the guilty verdicts were read. 

The verdicts were reached after jurors deliberated for three weeks, meeting for a total of 41 hours over ten days.

In total, the case contained five sexual assault charges brought by the four women for incidents that transpired in LA county between 2004 and 2013, including two counts of forcible rape – one involving Ms Siebel Newsom, and another involving the unnamed Russian model, who said Weinstein appeared uninvited at her hotel room door during a Los Angeles film festival in 2013.

Weinstein had pleaded not guilty to all the charges, which could have seen his current sentence increase by as much as 65 years. After the most recent verdicts, he faces 24 years in prison when sentenced.

Jurors remained deadlocked over sexual battery allegations leveled by the massage therapist, who broke down in court earlier this month as she recalled how Weinstein groped her and masturbated in front of her in a bathroom after one of their appointments in 2010

Jurors remained deadlocked over sexual battery allegations leveled by the massage therapist, who broke down in court earlier this month as she recalled how Weinstein groped her and masturbated in front of her in a bathroom after one of their appointments in 2010 

Despite more than a month of emotional testimony from the four accusers – including a tear-jerking appeal from Ms Siebel Newsom – jurors remained divided on several charges brought by two of the accusers.

Jurors voted 10-2 in favor of conviction of sexual battery allegations leveled by the massage therapist, who broke down in court earlier this month as she recalled how Weinstein groped her and masturbated in front of her in a bathroom after one of their appointments in 2010.

She said when she went to wash her hands in the bathroom, the movie mogul barged in naked and began masturbating before pushing her up against a wall and groping underneath her shirt.

‘He went toward me in a very aggressive manner. He pushed me against the wall. That’s when he started to put his hand under my bra and feel my chest,’ she said.

‘I was terrified, I thought I was about to get raped,’ she said.

They also remained deadlocked in regards to Siebel Newsom, remaining 8-4 in her favor, seeing two felony charges of forced oral copulation and forcible rape thrown to the wayside.

Jurors also remained deadlocked in regards to rape and sex assault charges leveled by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who claims Weinstein sexually assaulted her during a 2005 meeting – telling her ‘relax, this is going to make her feel better'

Jurors also remained deadlocked in regards to rape and sex assault charges leveled by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who claims Weinstein sexually assaulted her during a 2005 meeting – telling her ‘relax, this is going to make her feel better’

Screaming through tears at times during her impassioned testimony, the 48-year-old wife of California's more prominent politician testified that Weinstein raped her when she was 31 and trying to build a career as an actor and producer. Jurors voted 8-4 in her favor but could not reach a verdict

Screaming through tears at times during her impassioned testimony, the 48-year-old wife of California’s more prominent politician testified that Weinstein raped her when she was 31 and trying to build a career as an actor and producer. Jurors voted 8-4 in her favor but could not reach a verdict

Newsom testified that Weinstein raped her in 2005 when she was 31 and trying to build a career as an actor and producer.

She found herself unexpectedly alone with Weinstein in a suite at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, where she had agreed to join him for a meeting. She said she assumed others would be present and they would talk about her career. 

He emerged from the bathroom in a robe with nothing underneath and began groping her while he masturbated. Siebel Newsom said she faked an orgasm to end her ordeal.

‘I was making some noises to get him to finish, he had already raped me. 

Defense Attorney Mark Werksman asked her how she ‘indicated her pleasure’, resulting in a visibly appalled Newsom.

She responded: ‘This is not When Harry Met Sally. I’m not doing that.’

Weinstein had already been found guilty in February 2020 of two felonies — third-degree rape and criminal sexual act in the first degree. 

Jurors were also unable to reach a verdict involving another woman, model Lauren Young, called Jane Doe 2 during proceeding, who that during a 2013 meeting with the mogul about a script, he trapped her in the bathroom of his Beverly Hills hotel, groped her, and masturbated in front of her while she stood and watched

Jurors were also unable to reach a verdict involving another woman, model Lauren Young, called Jane Doe 2 during proceeding, who that during a 2013 meeting with the mogul about a script, he trapped her in the bathroom of his Beverly Hills hotel, groped her, and masturbated in front of her while she stood and watched

Earlier in the month, prosecutors revealed that the accuser known in court as Jane Doe 5, who alleged she was raped and forced to give oral sex to the then movie mogul on two separate occasions in 2009 and 2010, would not be appearing to testify.

What’s more, the attorneys revealed that the counts would no longer be pursued, and would not detail a reason for the last-minute shift.

Those remaining include an unidentified Russian, Italy-based model, labeled Jane Doe 1, who claims she was sexually assaulted by Weinstein in 2013, and forced to perform oral sex as he had difficulty maintaining an erection.

The first witness called to the stand, Jane Doe 1 faced a heated line of questioning from Weinstein’s legal team back in October, with the defense accusing her of lying – arguing that at the time of the alleged incident, Weinstein’s testicles had been surgically relocated to his inner thighs.

According to the accuser, that attack took place in  Los Angeles for an Italian film festival, during which Weinstein arrived uninvited at her hotel room in February 2013 and raped her. The attack led to mental anguish and abuse of alcohol, she said, and also saw Weinstein allegedly penetrate her with a foreign object. 

'I was scared of Harvey Weinstein - that he would hurt me, or send someone to hurt me, or ruin my career, or make my life hell,' Young said during an emotional testimony earlier in the month

‘I was scared of Harvey Weinstein – that he would hurt me, or send someone to hurt me, or ruin my career, or make my life hell,’ Young said during an emotional testimony earlier in the month

‘I was destroying myself,’ she testified early on during proceeding, while fighting back tears. ‘I was feeling very guilty. Most of all because I opened that door.’

She added that she has been the victim of rape in the past and feared being beat if she didn’t follow Weinstein’s demands for sex. 

Weinstein was found guilty of rape and sexual assault of all counts related to Jane Doe 1. 

Lacking any forensic evidence or eyewitness accounts of assaults Weinstein´s accusers said happened in the other attacks, which almost all transpired before the one involving Jane Doe 1, the rest of the charges leveled against Weinstein had hinged heavily on the stories and credibility of the three other accusers.

Harvey Weinstein was a 'predator' with unmistakable patterns who used his Hollywood power to lure women into meetings, sexually assault them and escape the consequences, a prosecutor said in closing arguments at the former movie mogul's LA trial earlier in the month

Harvey Weinstein was a ‘predator’ with unmistakable patterns who used his Hollywood power to lure women into meetings, sexually assault them and escape the consequences, a prosecutor said in closing arguments at the former movie mogul’s LA trial earlier in the month

In the case of 29-year-old Young – who claimed that during a 2013 meeting with the mogul about a script, he trapped her in the bathroom of his Beverly Hills hotel, groped her, and masturbated in front of her – that was not enough, with jurors remaining hung on her charges of sexual battery by restraint.

The alleged incident transpired shortly after the alleged 2013 rape of Jane Doe 1, according to the then aspiring model, who became acquainted with Weinstein while pursuing a career in acting and screenwriting.

She was the only of the four accusers to tell her story at both trials, in Los Angeles and New York.

‘I was scared of Harvey Weinstein – that he would hurt me, or send someone to hurt me, or ruin my career, or make my life hell,’ Young said during an emotional testimony earlier in the month.

Weinstein’s attorneys denied the encounter ever occurred, and said there was no evidence she was forced to remain in the room.

A third accuser, an licensed massage therapist known only as Jane Doe 3, was hired by hired by Weinstein in May of 2010 for a massage, during which she said  Weinstein trapped her in a hotel bathroom, groped her, and masturbated in front of her, in an incident eerily similar to the one recounted by Young.

Tearing up at the stand, the masseuse said she was ‘young and naive’ when she fell victim to Weinstein’s alleged abuse, and felt like she couldn’t confide the ordeal to her authorities or her fiancé – but eventually told one of her other A-List clients, Mel Gibson, about the incident, after he indicated he’d be working with Weinstein. 

She expressed shame and disgust that she agreed to see and work on Weinstein again afterward, something the defense attempted to hone in on during cross-examinations.

‘That’s one of the reasons why I didn´t want to come forward,’ she said, ‘because this is embarrassing,’ she told the court in defiance of the defense’s claims concerning supposed inconsistencies.

‘He went toward me in a very aggressive manner. He pushed me against the wall. That’s when he started to put his hand under my bra and feel my chest.’ 

She added: ‘I was terrified, I thought I was about to get raped.’

Perhaps the most prominent of the four accusers, however, is Newsom, known as Jane Doe 4 in court, who gave an intensely harrowing account of what she described as a rape by Weinstein at a Beverly Hills hotel in September 2005, where she had been supposed meet with producer about her aspiring acting career.

Screaming through tears at times during her impassioned testimony, the 48-year-old left onlookers stunned upon airing her accusations in court for the first time, during which she was also accused of lying by Weinstein’s defense.

The case has seen five new sexual assault charges and two of rape leveled against the now wheelchair bound convict for alleged incidents that transpired in LA between 2004 and 2013. The allegations were brought by four women all referred to as Jane Doe in court documents

The case has seen five new sexual assault charges and two of rape leveled against the now wheelchair bound convict for alleged incidents that transpired in LA between 2004 and 2013. The allegations were brought by four women all referred to as Jane Doe in court documents

When asked if it was her intent to ‘have sexual intercourse with Harvey Weinstein,’ the wife of the most powerful politician in the state shouted ‘no’ at prosecutors, and sobbed on the stand.

Weinstein’s jury was hung on all counts against Newsom. 

‘He knows this is not normal!’ she shouted during her account of the assault. ‘He knows this is not consent!’

In addition to those four accusers – who accounts to police saw a then under trial Weinstein extradited from New York to Los Angeles in the summer of 2021 – jurors also heard testimonies from more than 50 witnesses to gain insight on the four women’s allegations.

He has been held in DTLA’s Twin Towers Correctional Facility ever since. 

Weinstein’s trial in The City of Angels comes more than five years after reports in both The New York Times and The New Yorker about his misdeeds surfaced, helping to spark the #MeToo movement.

Within weeks, nearly 90 women had come forward accusing Weinstein of sexual misconduct in incidents dating back to the 70s, with many alleging they had been raped by the former mogul.

As it stands, Weinstein has been publicly accused by more than 100 women. He has been incarcerated since February 2020.

Despite the mistrials, with today’s rulings, Weinstein will spend the rest of his natural life behind bars. 

Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez called on jurors in the prosecution’s closing argument: ‘It is time for the defendant’s reign of terror to end. It is time for the kingmaker to be brought to justice.’

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