On February 23, local time, the U.S. District Court of California sentenced Harvey Weinstein to sexual assault and rape and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. During the proceedings of this case, a relationship between Weinstein and the wife of the current governor of California was also involved.
Three counts nearly carry the maximum sentence
The film mogul Harvey Weinstein, who once dominated Hollywood and even the global film market, is currently serving time in a New York prison for multiple sexual assault crimes. The previously sentenced 23-year sentence has just served three years. The latest 16-year sentence will be executed after he has served the existing sentence in accordance with relevant US laws and regulations. In other words, if factors such as commutation of meritorious service and early parole are not considered, Weinstein needs to stay behind bars until at least 2059. Of course, the premise is that he can live to the age of 107 without disease or disaster.
The reason why the state court will be given a severe sentence this time is that it was accused of sexually assaulting and raping an Italian model in the famous Beverly Hills Hotel in 2013.
On the day of the sentencing, Weinstein, who was wearing a gray prison uniform and always sitting in a wheelchair, still insisted that he was innocent, and accused the plaintiff of this case of deliberately fabricating the story for money. The tears that the plaintiff shed in court were purely " acting skills." He begged the judge who presided over the trial, Lisa Lunch, not to sentence him to life imprisonment, "I am not guilty of this."
Harvey Weinstein
Earlier, Weinstein's defense lawyer also repeatedly pleaded for him, and once again played the credit card and personal brand in court that have long been proven to be ineffective. "Over the past fifty years, my client has made great contributions to the film industry, produced hundreds of films, and brought joy to hundreds of millions of people. Many well-known movie stars also expressed their gratitude to him in their Oscar acceptance speeches. Sincerely thank you.” Attorney Waxman said, “And he is the father of five children. He once had a wonderful, complete and positive life. He also gave generously to various charities and social movements. Now because of The 'Me Too' movement has become the object of ridicule. I hope the court will take into account that he is also a 70-year-old man and his health is very poor, so he can be punished for several crimes and sentenced to three years in prison .”
According to US law, it is the judge who decides the sentence, and the grand jury who decides whether he is innocent or guilty. As early as the end of last year, jurors from Los Angeles unanimously agreed that Weinstein was convicted of three counts of rape, sexual assault with a foreign object, and forced sexual organs into the opponent's mouth. In the end, female judge Lisa Lunch gave Weinstein eight-year, six-year, and two-year sentences for the three crimes committed, without considering the possibility of multiple crimes and combined sentences. In this way, Weinstein was almost dealt with according to the top standard and sentenced to 16 years in prison, which is only two years less than the maximum sentence of 18 years stipulated in the US criminal law for these three crimes.
As required, the names of the plaintiffs in the case have not been made public. The model from Italy said in court that she was invited to participate in the Italian Film Festival held in Los Angeles in 2013, and had a few simple greetings with Weinstein, whom she had never met before. , showed up in her hotel room and assaulted her. "Ten years later, the scars of being raped by him are still vivid in my mind. For ten years, it has been pressing on my heart, leaving me with indelible pain. Many people still think irrationally that all this It was all my fault. In fact, it was his disgusting selfish behavior that completely affected my life."
The plaintiff complained tearfully that he was originally a happy and confident person, but after the incident, he became self-pitying, thinking that the reason why he became a victim was because he had done something wrong in the first place. "I became sunken, empty, lonely, and lost myself. But now that I think about it, it was all the fault of my rapist. So, I want to tell everyone who has experienced the same thing as me, don't blame yourself, don't feel Shame, stand up and find yourself again."
Rape allegation against governor's wife rejected by jury
Since the New York Times and The New Yorker magazine kicked up the sexual assault scandal in October 2017, more than 100 women have filed real-name or anonymous allegations against Weinstein. In May 2018, he was formally arrested by the New York police, and he was later released on a $1 million bond to temporarily restore his freedom. In 2019, Weinstein suffered a car accident and seriously injured his back. He has never been able to do without a wheelchair or a walker. In March 2020, a New York court sentenced him to 23 years in prison for two counts of sexual assault and rape.
In October 2022, the Los Angeles court also began to hear the Weinstein sexual assault case. A total of 5 victims filed accusations against him. In the end, apart from the Italian model, the accusations of the other four plaintiffs were due to insufficient evidence or other reasons. Unanimous approval of the jury members was not obtained. Among the four plaintiffs is Siebel Newsom, wife of the current governor of California.
Siebel Newsom and her husband, current California Governor Gavin Newsom
Sibel Newsom, who graduated from Stanford University, has a good family background and excellent academic performance. She has dreamed of being an actor since she was a child. When she was young, she played small roles in American dramas such as "Mad Men" and "Digital Chase". However, after marrying Gavin Newsom, who was the mayor of San Francisco at the time, in 2008, she gradually faded out of the scene. In this trial, she appeared in court as one of the plaintiffs, accusing Weinstein of raping her after asking her to go to a hotel for an appointment in 2005 under the pretext of discussing a movie project. Although the jury did not unanimously accept her testimony, the public figure also said on his social media account that he was satisfied with the result after the 16-year sentence was announced yesterday.
Actor Rose McGowan was the first to publicly accuse Weinstein
However, according to the first public accusation against Weinstein, the actor Rose McGowan revealed: A few years ago, Sibel Newsom accompanied Weinstein's lawyers to find her, hoping to pay her to shut up, Weinstein no longer accused of sexual assault. Newsom has never responded positively to this statement. During the trial of this case at the end of last year, Weinstein’s defense lawyers did indeed produce a large number of emails between Siebel Newsom and Weinstein as evidence, hoping to prove that the two were still in good relationship after 2005, and even Later, Newsom's husband also received a large amount of political donations from Weinstein during his campaign for the governor of California, which is not at all a reasonable relationship between the rapist and the victim and the victim's family.
In this regard, Siebel Newsom explained in court that it was because Weinstein was so powerful at the time that he could not only cover up the sky with one hand in Hollywood, but also was a figure who spoke his mind in the political and business circles of the United States. Due to the pressure of reality, she could only keep in touch with him after 2005.
Weinstein and Hillary Clinton
Perhaps it was these connections that eventually prevented the jury from fully supporting Siebel Newsom's statement, but Weinstein did have a huge influence in American society before his downfall. As early as 2019, some media publicly pointed out that Hillary Clinton had served as a lobbyist for Weinstein in 2017, hoping that the New Yorker reporter could save face and withdraw the manuscript that year. Hillary has never responded positively to this statement, but it is not news that she received public donations from Weinstein during the 2008 election.