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Harvey Weinstein Is Charged With Rape in Los Angeles
The new case in California against the Hollywood producer was disclosed just as his sexual assault trial began in New York.
transcript
Weinstein Sexual Assault Trial Begins in New York
Harvey Weinstein entered a Manhattan courtroom for the start of his rape trial on Monday. Sex crimes charges were also filed in Los Angeles against the film producer.
Reporter: “what did you think of the joke that Ricky Gervais made about you?”
By Jan Ransom and
Prosecutors in Los Angeles charged the film producer Harvey Weinstein with rape and other sex crimes involving two women, even as his trial on similar charges began in New York City on Monday.
The new criminal complaint was announced in Los Angeles on Monday, just hours after Mr. Weinstein, who recently had back surgery, hobbled into a Manhattan courtroom with a walker for the start of his rape trial there.
The Los Angeles County district attorney, Jackie Lacey, said Mr. Weinstein had been charged with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another woman in separate incidents over a two-day period in 2013.
Mr. Weinstein entered a hotel room on Feb. 18, 2013, and raped a woman after pushing his way inside of her room, Ms. Lacey’s office said. He is accused of then sexually assaulting a second woman the following night at a hotel suite in Beverly Hills.
Mr. Weinstein has been charged with one felony count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint, Ms. Lacey said in a statement. He faces up to 28 years in prison if convicted.
“We believe the evidence will show that the defendant used his power and influence to gain access to his victims and then commit violent crimes against them,” Ms. Lacey said.
In New York City, dozens of protesters gathered outside the State Supreme Court in Manhattan on a damp day, including several actresses who have accused Mr. Weinstein of wrongdoing, holding signs with slogans like “justice for survivors” and “coercion is not consent.”
Rose McGowan, an actress who has accused Mr. Weinstein of sexual assault, called the trial in Manhattan “a moment of justice,” even though most of Mr. Weinstein’s accusers “won’t have even one day in court.” Addressing the disgraced producer she said, “You brought this on yourself by hurting so many.”
Ms. McGowan was joined by seven other women in the entertainment industry as they stood in Foley Square a park just two blocks from the criminal courthouse.
Inside the courtroom — Part 99 — Justice James M. Burke dealt a blow to Mr. Weinstein’s defense, ruling that it cannot call as a witness the disgraced detective who was accused of withholding evidence from prosecutors that was favorable to the defense.
Mr. Weinstein’s lawyers had hoped to call the detective, Nicholas DiGaudio, as part of an effort to cast doubt on the New York Police Department investigation of Mr. Weinstein.
Mr. Weinstein dropped his head into his hands after the judge’s ruling.
The gallery of Part 99 of State Supreme Court was packed with reporters and spectators, as Mr. Weinstein, once one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood, made his way slowly to the defense table, dressed in a loose black suit with black loafers and flanked by his lawyers.
The trial of Mr. Weinstein, 67, is one of the most anticipated proceedings in recent years. Allegations of sexual harassment and assault against the movie mogul exploded in 2017, prompting the global #MeToo movement, a reckoning over sexual misconduct by powerful and influential men in the workplace that has changed public perception and led to numerous men losing their careers.
Jury selection in the trial will begin on Tuesday. The lawyers will pick 12 jurors and six alternates from a pool of 500 New Yorkers.
Six women are expected to testify about sexual encounters with Mr. Weinstein, though the criminal charges hinge entirely on allegations made by two of them.
Mr. Weinstein is charged with raping one woman, who has not been identified in court documents, at a Midtown Manhattan hotel in March 2013 and forcing a second woman, Mimi Haleyi, a production assistant, to allow him to perform oral sex on her at his apartment in Manhattan in 2006.
He faces one count of rape and one count of criminal sexual act in those cases and, if convicted, could be sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison.
Mr. Weinstein maintains that his sexual encounters with the women were consensual.
The producer also faces a charge of predatory sexual assault for committing a serious sex crime against more than one person. If convicted of that charge, Mr. Weinstein faces a maximum of life in prison.
To further buttress that charge, prosecutors plan on calling the “Sopranos” actress Annabella Sciorra to testify against Mr. Weinstein, who she said sexually assaulted her in 1993 in her Gramercy Park apartment.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has also won permission to call three other women, who have yet to be identified, to testify about their allegations of sexual assault by the producer. Prosecutors hope those witnesses will help convince a jury that Mr. Weinstein has long been a sexual predator, supporting the claims of the two main accusers.
Prosecutors in Pennsylvania used a similar strategy in the sexual assault trial of the comedian Bill Cosby, who is in prison.
Detective DiGaudio’s handling of the evidence became an issue in October 2018, when one of the charges in the indictment related to a former actress was thrown out by Justice James M. Burke, who is presiding over the rape trial. The actress, Lucia Evans, had accused Mr. Weinstein of forcing her to perform oral sex on him during a business meeting.
But it came to light that Detective DiGaudio had failed to inform prosecutors that Ms. Evans had given a different version of the story to a friend, saying she had willingly agreed to the sex act after Mr. Weinstein promised her acting jobs in return.
Ms. Evans insisted that she had never consented, and Detective DiGaudio denied withholding information from the prosecutors. He was still removed from the case and the charge was dropped, at the prosecution’s request.
Mr. Weinstein’s lawyers had hoped to call the detective and grill him on the lapses in the investigation. Justice Burke ruled against them, though he said other witnesses could be asked about the detective’s work on cross-examination.
“My ruling is that the defense may not call Detective DiGaudio on their case which is not to say they may not vigorously cross-examine a witness about their dealings with him,” Justice Burke said, adding that if it makes it relevant “to call him after then so be it.”
Now, however, even if Mr. Weinstein prevails in Manhattan, he will face a second trial in Los Angeles. Ms. Lacey said at a news conference that eight women had come forward to report being sexually assaulted by Mr. Weinstein in Los Angeles County.
Charges had been brought in two instances. Three of those allegations, however, happened too long ago to prosecute under the state’s statute of limitations. Ms. Lacey said her office was still investigating the allegations of the other three women to determine if charges could be filed.
“I want to commend the victims who have come forward and bravely recounted what happened to them,” Ms. Lacey said.
More than 80 women, including several well-known actresses, have come forward to accuse Mr. Weinstein of sexual misconduct, from unwanted touching and harassment to outright sexual assault. Most of those complaints, however, have not led to criminal charges, despite investigations in London, Los Angeles and New York.
Mr. Weinstein recently reached a tentative $25 million civil settlement with dozens of his accusers, but it would not require the Hollywood producer to admit wrongdoing or to pay anything himself, according to lawyers involved in the negotiations.
Jose A. Del Real contributed reporting from Los Angeles.
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