Judged in Los Angeles for sexual assault and rape, Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty

Published on : 07/21/2021 – 23:03

After the New York State court, Harvey Weinstein faced a Los Angeles court Wednesday, July 21, and pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of sexual assault and rape of five women in California.

“The conviction is on record,” Judge Sergio Tapia said after a lawyer spoke on behalf of Harvey Weinstein, who was in the courtroom in a wheelchair and wearing a brown jumpsuit.

Harvey Weinstein – whose fall is seen as a major victory for the #MeToo movement – had been serving a 23-year prison sentence since 2020 for sexual assault and rape in New York. He was transferred Tuesday to Los Angeles, the city where he once had immense influence, to answer these new charges.

In total, nearly 90 women, including actresses Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rosanna Arquette, have accused Harvey Weinstein of harassment or sexual assault. But the statute of limitations has been exceeded in many of these cases.

In California, Harvey Weinstein is notably accused of having raped an Italian model in a hotel in Beverly Hills in February 2013, then of having sexually assaulted Lauren Young, an actress in the making, in the bathroom of another hotel.

Harvey Weinstein runs up to 140 years in prison

“Anyone who abuses their power and influence to attack others will be brought to justice,” promised Los Angeles prosecutor George Gascon.

Wednesday’s hearing was mostly held behind closed doors. Harvey Weinstein’s attorney, Mark Werksman, has notably called for three of the charges dating back to 2004 to be dropped because of the expiration of the statute of limitations.

He also demanded that Harvey Weinstein receive a medical evaluation, which Judge Tapia granted.

The producer of “Pulp Fiction” faces up to 140 years in prison, in addition to his New York conviction. He has always denied the facts, in New York and Los Angeles, claiming his accusers consented.

At the end of the hearing, in which a very pale-skinned Harvey Weinstein sat in silence, handcuffed to his chair, the judge wished the former Hollywood titan “good luck”. The latter seemed to thank the judge, his voice muffled by an ill-fitting blue mask.

The next hearing is scheduled for July 29.

In early April, he formally appealed his conviction for rape and sexual assault in New York, handed down in March 2020 after a resounding trial.

With AFP