Harvey Weinstein must be set on his sentence for rape in Los Angeles

He risks ending his life in prison: former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein should be fixed on his sentence Thursday, after his conviction for rape and sexual assault on a European model during his recent trial in Los Angeles.

For these acts committed in a Beverly Hills hotel in 2013, the 70-year-old former “king” of cinema, producer of award-winning hits like “Pulp Fiction”, faces up to 18 years in prison.

He thus risks ending his days behind bars, because he is already serving a 23-year prison sentence after his conviction in New York in 2020 for similar facts and which he appealed.

Mr. Weinstein wishes to appeal his conviction in Los Angeles and his defense must present his arguments on Thursday to demand a new trial.

If their request is rejected, judge Lisa Lench warned that she would set a sentence in stride.

This second trial for Mr. Weinstein, whose fall in 2017 freed the voices of many women and spawned the #MeToo movement, saw four women testify anonymously against him.

During several weeks of a bitter and trying hearing, sometimes interrupted by the plaintiffs' sobs, they accused the former Hollywood titan of having forced them into sex in hotels in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles between 2004 and 2013.

The prosecution had portrayed Mr. Weinstein as an all-powerful ogre, a “predator” whose stranglehold on Hollywood -- the films he produced have received more than 330 Oscar nominations and 81 statuettes -- has long kept his victims from to speak out for fear of repercussions on their careers.

His lawyers have worked to cast doubt on the word of the four complainants, highlighting in particular the absence of forensic evidence to support their stories.

Damages and interests

The trial ended with a split verdict.

Jurors found Mr. Weinstein guilty of all charges brought by the European model.

On the other hand, they declared him not guilty concerning those of a second woman, and did not formulate a verdict concerning the allegations made by the other two.

After the criminal conviction of the ex-producer, the model recognized as a victim at the end of the trial filed a complaint in early February in a Los Angeles court, in order to obtain civil damages.

Consulted by AFP, this complaint does not specify the amount claimed.

She insists on the “physical and mental suffering” caused by the rape and the sexual assaults suffered.

In 2021, a civil agreement awarded $ 17 million to several dozen women accusing the former producer, but this woman was not one of them.

Rumors about Mr. Weinstein's behavior had been circulating for years in Hollywood.

The scandal finally broke in 2017, thanks to press investigations compiling multiple accusations, which sparked the #MeToo movement.

Since then, nearly 90 women, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rosanna Arquette, have accused Harvey Weinstein of harassment, sexual assault or rape.

But the limitation period has been exceeded in many of these cases, some of which date back to 1977. In addition to his legal setbacks in the United States, the ex-producer is also charged in the United Kingdom for sexual assaults which would go back to 1996.