His five lawyers lead the way, smile slung and confident. In their wake, the contrast is striking: he is a worn man, almost an old man, who painfully crosses the courtroom, scrutinized by dozens of accredited journalists. Under the fire of critics who accused him of doing too much to pity public opinion, and as Wednesday opened in New York this active phase of his trial for sexual assault and rape of two women, Harvey Weinstein loose his walker before entering. Black suit and white shirt, bald head, limping and supported by a member of his team, the deposed producer looks pale.
An image that Meghan Hast, supporting the accusation, wishes to cut to pieces from the start of her opening argument. Addressing the jurors - seven men and five women chosen after a drastic selection process of almost two weeks - the magistrate urged them not to trust appearances. "The man who sits there is not a harmless old man," she launched in front of a wooden desk, projecting a photo of Harvey Weinstein with the help of a video projector. former President Bill Clinton. For Meghan Hast, this "smiling man on the red carpets around the world" is a "predator and an experienced rapist" who "carefully selected" his prey: beginning or aspiring producer actresses, women with a traumatic past, naive, isolated from their families and financially fragile.
"Like the old lady of the house in gingerbread"
And the representative of the prosecution then detail in crude words and a surgical tone each of the assaults suffered by six women, three of whom will be called to testify. The former Hollywood mogul is on trial for the facts on two of them, but other cases, for which the facts were prescribed, are raised at trial to demonstrate the "predatory" aspect of the accused. Among them, actress Annabella Sciorra, known for her role in "The Sopranos", whom she accused of rape in 1993 after having made her "addicted" to Valium. "He left her unconscious, lying on the ground," details the assistant to the prosecutor, adding that the actress, who took years to confide, ended up abusing the drink and scarifying herself.
Producer Mimi Haleyi, after having rejected Harvey Weinstein dozens of times and thinking that she had established a strictly professional relationship, would have suffered a first sexual assault, then a rape in 2006, ending "inanimate, like a dead fish", continues the magistrate. Harvey Weinstein, very attentive, nodding his head, regularly turns to his main lawyer, the formidable Donna Rotunno, whispers and scribbles little words as the prosecution develops its arguments. A third woman who has remained anonymous so far, Jessica Mann, too, was dreaming of Hollywood when she met Harvey Weinstein at a party in 2013. “He was like the old lady of the gingerbread house who attracts little ones children at home ”, mocks Meghan Hast. He would have made her dangle big roles before trapping her in hotel rooms, using all her weight - literally and figuratively - to obtain several sexual relationships, including one particularly brutal, in 2013.
But the young woman, under the influence of the accusation and still believing to break into Hollywood, will continue her relationship with the accused despite everything. What undermine his credibility, as well as those of all her accusers, said Damon Cheronis, one of the lawyers of Weinstein. As announced in the press, the defense indeed intends to demonstrate that it is on the contrary these women who tried to use the producer, to obtain a role, for a small job in the world of cinema, to place the script of a friend ... "You will see that his truth is far from THE truth! Asserts Damon Cheronis about one of the complainants.
SMS and conversation pieces
Mimi Haleyi, for example, would have relaunched Weinstein several times to find work. "She says she had no choice, but in this case we are going to tell you that none had ever had a choice!" Sighs the lawyer, before attacking Jessica Mann. He produces text messages and pieces of conversation between the young woman and the accused, over a total period of five years, he claims. Taken out of their context, their effect is devastating: "Thank you for your unfailing support", she writes one day, "I miss you my dear", she sends another, taking care to send her her new number ...
And the lawyer to reveal his trump card: "I love you, I have always loved you, but I hate the impression of being just a shot for an evening" she blurted in an SMS. She herself will also describe Weinstein as her "cul plan". "These are not the words of a woman chased by a predator! “Thunders the lawyer, sure of its effect. To counter these apparent weaknesses in the file, the prosecution plans to have a psychologist specializing in rape cases testify to discuss the behavior of the victims. An intervention necessary to hope to obtain a conviction "beyond reasonable doubt".
