Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape in the third degree and criminal sexual act in the first degree on Monday.
But he was found not guilty of two counts of predatory sexual assault that would have carried a possible life sentence.
Weinstein was found guilty of criminal sexual act in the first degree for an incident involving former “Project Runway” production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi and rape in the third degree for the assault of hairstylist Jessica Mann.
The 67-year-old movie mogul has denied the allegations, saying the encounters were consensual.
During the trial, six women testified he had sexually assaulted them, although Weinstein only faced criminal charges in connection with two of them. The four others testified to establish that he showed a pattern of criminal behavior.
“Here the rapist was at the pinnacle, at the very profession his victims strived to make a career in,” Assistant District Attorney Meghan Hast said in her opening statement. “Thus, the power and balance he deviously exploited was not just physical, it was also professional and profoundly psychological.”
While Weinstein did not testify, his lawyers said that any sexual contact was consensual and accused the women of trying to advance their careers. The defense seized on the fact that two of the women central to the case stayed in contact with Weinstein via emails and other means.
His lawyer, Donna Rotunno, asserted that prosecutors created an “alternate universe” where “women are not responsible for the parties they attend, the men they flirt with, the choices they made to further their own careers, the hotel room invitations, the plane tickets they accept, the jobs they ask for help to obtain,” according to BuzzFeed.
“To the defendant, it has been said he was the master of his universe and the witnesses here were merely ants that he could step on without consequences,” Manhattan Assistant DA Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said in her closing statements, reported the New York Post.
Weinstein, who has been recently photographed walking to a court in New York City while using a walker, faces up to 25 years in prison for the charges.
Dozens of women accused Weinstein, including actresses Ashley Judd, Rose McGowan, and Gwyneth Paltrow, of various forms of misconduct. Last year, Weinstein reached a $44 million settlement with several of his accusers, according to reports at the time.
Weinstein’s legal woes aren’t yet over as he was indicted for sexual misconduct in Los Angeles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times
