After more than two weeks of deliberations, members of a jury in Los Angeles found film producer Harvey Weinstein guilty of several sexual assault-related offenses.
The producer must serve time for rape, forced oral copulation and another count of sexual misconduct in the Jane Doe 1 case, which could land him behind bars for another 140 years.
A total of 44 witnesses attended the trial. However, the case focused on the testimonies of four female accusers.
BREAKING: Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of rape and sexual assault of all counts related to Jane Doe 1. The jury acquitted him of sexual battery against Jane Doe 3. Hung on all counts related to Jane Doe 2 and Jen Newsom.
— James Queally (@JamesQueallyLAT) December 19, 2022
"Over the course of several weeks, eight amazingly courageous women faced their abuser, Harvey Weinstein. They stood up and shared terribly painful stories with the jurors, and endured attacks from the defense team intended to humiliate and shame them for their bravery. We are thankful that those jurors saw Weinstein for what he is – a serial predator" said Elizabeth Fagan, managing partner of FeganScott and an attorney representing Jane Doe 4, in a statement.
Harvey faced other charges, but the jury reported could not reach a verdict, resulting in a mistrial in those cases.
"We would have preferred that those jurors had found him guilty on all counts, we understand that it was a complex trial," she added.
There are so many people Harvey Weinstein hurt who will never have their day in court and who won't be able to get a conviction. Even so, I hope the outcome of these trials brings them some semblance of justice. https://t.co/CLnCgRrq1S
— Adrienne Lawrence, Esq. (@AdrienneLaw) December 20, 2022
The 70-year-old man is already serving a 23-year sentence in New York for sexual assault and rape.
The producer continues to insist that he is innocent, assuring that all sexual encounters were consensual. In fact, the aforementioned cases have already been appealed. However, he has previously lost attempts to overturn convictions.
Harvey and the #MeToo movement
In 2017, several accusations were made against the film executive. It was precisely due to the high number of allegations that the #MeToo" movement began to go viral.
The phrase was used to encourage more women to tell their stories of abuse and report the sexual assaults they suffered.
