Harvey Weinstein found guilty in landmark #MeToo moment
By Michael r. Sisak and Tom Hays
NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein was convicted Monday of rape and sexual assault against two women and was immediately handcuffed and led off to jail, sealing his dizzying fall from powerful Hollywood studio boss to archvillain of the #MeToo movement.
The 67-year-old Weinstein had a look of resignation on his face as he heard the verdict that could send him to prison for up to 29 years.
AP
“This is the new landscape for survivors of sexual assault in America, I believe, and it is a new day. It is a new day because Harvey Weinstein has finally been held accountable for crimes he committed,” District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said. “Weinstein is a vicious, serial sexual predator who used his power to threaten, rape, assault and trick, humiliate and silence his victims.”
The jury of seven men and five women took five days to convict him.
Weinstein was found guiilty of sexually assaulting production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006 and raping an aspiring actress in a New York City hotel room in 2013.
He was acquitted on the most serious charges, two counts of predatory sexual assault, each carrying a sentence of up to life in prison. Both of those counts hinged on the word of “Sopranos” actress Annabella Sciorra, who said Weinstein raped her and forcibly performed oral sex on her at at her apartment in the mid-1990s.
The sexual assault charge carries up to 25 years in prison, while the rape is punishable by up to four years. Sentencing was set for March 11.
Judge James Burke ordered Weinstein taken to jail immediately. Court officers surrounded Weinstein, handcuffed him and led him out of the courtroom via a side door without the use of the walker he relied on for much for much of the trial. The judge said he will request that Weinstein be held in the infirmary after his lawyers said he needs medical attention following unsuccessful back surgery.
The verdict followed weeks of often harrowing and excruciatingly graphic testimony from a string of accusers.
The conviction was seen as a long-overdue reckoning for Weinstein after years of whispers about his behavior turned into a torrent of accusations in 2017 that destroyed his career and gave rise to #MeToo, the global movement to encourage women to come forward and hold powerful men accountable for their sexual misconduct.
“Weinstein with his manipulation, his resources, his attorneys, his publicists and his spies did everything he could to silence to survivors,” Vance said after the verdict.
