Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault at his two-month trial in Los Angeles on Monday, but the former producer has vowed to prove his innocence on appeal.
In a statement he received diverseWeinstein’s spokesperson says he is “disappointed” with the ruling.
A jury convicted Weinstein of three counts, but in a split verdict, acquitted Weinstein of another count. They also deadlocked on three remaining counts.
The ruling certainly wasn’t a clear cut for the prosecution, but it represents a huge loss for Weinstein, who will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars. In addition to his conviction in New York in 2020 for which he is already serving a 23-year prison sentence, Weinstein now faces an additional maximum sentence of 18 to 24 years for the charges for which he was convicted at his Los Angeles trial – forcible rape, forced oral intercourse and penetration by the body strange.
“Harvey is clearly disappointed with the ruling. Weinstein’s spokesperson, Judah Engelmayer, said in a statement to diverse. “However, the Jane Doe #1 account has a strong legal basis for appeal, as the logistics of the time and location of the alleged accident do not make sense. Harvey is grateful for the jury’s work on the other counts and is determined to continue his legal challenges to ultimately establish his innocence.”
All three counts on which Weinstein was convicted were all guilty of Jeanne Doe No. 1, a former European actress who testified that she was raped by Weinstein in February 2013 when she visited Los Angeles for the Italy Film Festival. During cross-examination, Weinstein’s defense aimed to poke holes in her testimony, questioning her about the timeline of events and her whereabouts on the evening she alleges she was sexually assaulted by Weinstein in Beverly Hills, California. During closing arguments, Weinstein’s defense claimed to the jury that Jane Doe #1 was not in the hotel room that night where she said she was raped.
The Los Angeles trial was largely based on four women, although a total of eight witnesses testified for the prosecution. The jury acquitted Weinstein of a charge related to Jane Doe #3 and hung on the charges that stemmed from Jane Doe #2 and Jane Doe #4. In other words, the jury found Weinstein guilty of only mistreating one woman. However, the verdict’s breakdown (10 to 2 on Jane Doe #2, and 8 to 4 on Jane Doe #4) indicated that the jury was leaning toward convicting Weinstein on charges that ultimately ended in deadlock with the judge declaring a mistrial .
In New York, Weinstein is currently appealing his conviction for which he is serving a 23-year prison sentence. The New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, has agreed to hear the appeal next year, marking a legal victory for Weinstein.
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