Harvey Weinstein accuser warns #MeToo movement is at stake if sex pest producer’s LA trial fails to convict him – and he wins NY appeal and walks free
- Harvey Weinstein, 70, will face 11 counts of sexual assault during his trial in Los Angeles, set to begin tomorrow
- The LA trial comes just two months after a New York court granted the him an appeal of the 2020 conviction which landed him with a more than 20 year prison
- Accusers, including actress Caitlin Dulany cautioned that the fate of the #MeToo movement could hinge on Weinstein’s LA trial
Harvey Weinstein accusers say the fate of the #MeToo movement will be at stake during the disgraced movie mogul’s Los Angeles trial, which is set to begin Monday.
Weinstein, 70, will face 11 counts of sexual assault, including forcible rape, sexual penetration with a foreign object by force, and sexual battery by restraint.
The second trial comes just two months after a New York court granted the disgraced producer an appeal of the 2020 conviction which landed him with a more than 20 year prison sentence for sex crimes.
Now with New York conviction appeal on the horizon, accusers fear that the LA trial – previously seen as a largely symbolic procedure – could suddenly bear the full weight of the #MeToo movement.
If Weinstein were acquitted in LA and then won his appeal in New York, he would walk free, something survivors say could undo the years of progress and prevent women from coming forward about abuse in the future.
Harvey Weinstein, 70, will face 11 counts of sexual assault, including forcible rape, sexual penetration with a foreign object by force, and sexual battery by restraint, during his LA trial
Actress Caitlin Dulany, who said Weinstein harassed and assaulted her in the 1990s, cautioned that the fate of the #MeToo movement could hinge on Weinstein’s LA trial
Accusers are holding their breath as his LA trial begins, including actress Caitlin Dulany, who said Weinstein harassed and assaulted her in the 1990s.
‘It is disturbing and shocking that Harvey was allowed to continue his New York appeal, and so we – survivors, supporters – are paying very, very close attention to the Los Angeles trial,’ she told The New York Times.
‘There’s obviously a lot at stake for the women who are testifying, but there is also a lot at stake for all of us,’ she said. ‘If it goes the wrong way, it will be a step backwards. I think it will make it harder for women to come forward in the future.’
Accusers also feel the location of the trial in LA – the home of the American movie industry in Hollywood – adds an air of significance to the implications of the trial’s verdict.
Weinstein faces life in prison if he is convicted in LA.
Weinstein’s second trial comes just two months after a New York court granted the disgraced producer an appeal of the 2020 conviction which landed him with a more than 20 year prison sentence for sex crimes
Weinstein has previously plead not guilty to his LA charges, which include forcible rape and forcible oral copulation, two counts of sexual battery by restraint and one count of sexual penetration by use of force, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
‘The defendant is charged with raping a woman at a hotel between September 2004 and September 2005,’ the DA’s office said. ‘He also is accused of raping another woman on two separate occasions in November 2009 and November 2010 at a hotel in Beverly Hills.’
The trial begins tomorrow after a judged rejected Weinstein’s bid to delay until after the release of the film She Said – based on the investigation which revealed Weinstein’s criminal sexual behavior – in November.
Weinstein’s attorney, Mark Werksman argued that a ‘firestorm of publicity’ caused by the film could ‘prejudice the jury’ his client.
LA Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench ruled that the Weinstein trial should go ahead as planned.
Due to the large number of witnesses on the prosecution’s witness list the trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks.
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