Jury deliberations resume Monday in Harvey Weinstein rape trial involving Gavin Newsom’s wife
Cami Mondeaux
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A Los Angeles jury will continue its deliberations in the second sexual assault trial of former movie producer Harvey Weinstein, who is accused of using his prominence in Hollywood to lure women into private meetings to assault them.
The jury is set to meet on Monday for its seventh day of deliberations as Weinstein faces charges of forcible rape and sexual assault involving four different women. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted of committing a criminal sex act and third-degree rape in 2020 and is being held in a detention facility’s medical unit. The Los Angeles trial focuses on four women who have accused the former movie producer of similar assaults, including testimony from filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who is married to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA).
“Rapists rape. You can look at the pattern,” prosecutor Paul Thompson told jurors in closing arguments. “You have irrefutable, overwhelming evidence about the nature of this man and what he did to these women.”
Defense attorneys for Weinstein have maintained the allegations either occurred as part of a “transactional relationship” or were fabricated entirely, arguing there is no evidence of assault in any of the cases.
In some of the cases, defense attorneys did not disagree the incidents took place but argued that Weinstein believed they were consensual.
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“Regret is not the same thing as rape,” defense attorney Alan Jackson said. “And it’s important we make that distinction in this courtroom.”
In the Los Angeles trial, Weinstein faces two counts of forcible rape and five counts of sexual assault. If found guilty, Weinstein could face up to 60 years in prison, plus an additional five years.