Harvey Weinstein decided not to testify and the trial against him for violation reaches the final stage

02/12/2020 - 13:35

• Clarín.com
• Society

The defense of Harvey Weinstein finished presenting his case on Tuesday in the rape trial against the once powerful film producer, without him declaring . The next step in the process will be the final arguments.

This is the emblematic case of the #MeToo era, strongly marked by the detailed testimonies of six accusers.

Weinstein decided not to take the stand, and thus avoided the risk of prosecutors questioning him in interrogations. He confirmed that decision to the court after meeting behind closed doors with his lawyers for half an hour, while the expectation grew, as it had not been ruled out to testify.

When asked to leave the court if he had thought about testifying, Weinstein replied: "I wanted to . "

Defense attorney Arthur Aidala added that Weinstein "was ready, willing, fit and, in fact, quite anxious to testify and clean his reputation," but he did not do so because his lawyers felt that prosecutors "failed miserably" to prove their case more beyond reasonable doubt.

The final arguments of the defense are expected to be presented this Thursday, and those of the prosecution on Friday. The jury's deliberations would begin next Tuesday.

When he failed to testify, Weinstein followed the example of another famous accused of a sexual crime, Bill Cosby, who did not take the stand when he was tried for drugging and sexually abusing a woman in his home in a suburb of Philadelphia. (After the initial trial against Cosby was overturned in 2017, the comedian was found guilty in a second trial.)

Weinstein, 67, is accused of raping a woman in a Manhattan hotel in 2013 and forcing another woman by oral sex, production assistant Mimi Haley, in 2006. Other accusers were summoned as witnesses as part of A prosecution effort to show that Weinstein has used the same tactics to victimize many women over the years . The defendant affirms that all his sexual relations were consensual.

After the jury retired for the day, Weinstein's lawyers argued with prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon about her plan to mention in the final arguments that Weinstein's physical appearance changed a lot since the alleged attacks occurred.

Weinstein came to all hearings with a walker he left behind the defense table. His lawyers say he needs it because of a recent surgery on his back, but Illuzzi said it seemed more like an object of props to ingratiate himself with the jury.

It's not props, stop it! Said Weinstein's lawyer Damon Cheronis.

"You can shout all you want," Illuzzi replied. "They didn't have to have the walker here."

Harvey Weinstein arrives with his walker at the New York Criminal Court for his rape trial (Reuters).

After further discussion, Judge James Burke said it was okay for Illuzzi to mention Weinstein's physical changes, but warned him: "Don't include the walker."

The defense case relied primarily on the testimony of three witnesses that Weinstein's lawyers presented to try to raise doubts about the versions of the two main accusers.

Talita Maia, a former flatmate of the woman who accuses Weinstein of rape, told the jury that the complainant never showed signs that the producer was victimizing her. In fact, Maia declared, he spoke well of him and once called him "his spiritual soulmate."

"He seemed to like him a lot as a person," he said. "She just gave him compliments ."

The witness also provided a relaxed description of how the complainant and Weinstein met at a Hollywood party a few months before the alleged violation. She said that when they realized that he was an important person in the industry, she (Maia) joked with Weinstein and said: "That's why everyone is good to you . " Then the whistleblower went further, hugged him and "pinched her cheeks and said: 'No, it's because it's so cute,'" Maia added.

Another woman's friend testified Tuesday that she seemed "normal" when they met for breakfast with the businessman shortly after the alleged abuse, in March 2013.

Thomas Richards, a talent agent in Hollywood, said Wednesday that the woman seemed friendly to Weinstein during breakfast and said nothing to indicate that she had just been raped.

The third witness, the Mexican model and actress Claudia Salinas, repudiated the testimony of the model Lauren Marie Young, one of the women called by the prosecution to support the allegations of the main accusers.

When asked about Young's claims that Salinas stood still and did nothing while Weinstein touched her at a Beverly Hills hotel in 2013, Salinas responded that "never happened."

Young had testified last week that Salinas closed the door when she and Weinstein entered the bathroom, where Young says he took off his clothes, touched his chest and masturbated.

When that was over, Young said he came out and saw Salinas standing outside the bathroom and reprimanded her with his eyes before leaving as fast as he could.

"If I had done that I would remember it," Salinas testified. "I would never close the door on anyone."

The trial progressed much faster than everyone involved expected. Initially, jurors were told that they could hear six weeks of testimony.

Source: AP.

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