Prosecutor brands Harvey Weinstein a 'rapist' with 'complete lack of empathy' in opening statement
Harvey Weinstein, centre, accompanied by attorney Arthur Aidala, right, arrives at court for his rape trial, in New York, January 22, 2020.
The opening of the rape trial more than two years after a barrage of allegations against Weinstein gave rise to the #MeToo movement was seen by activists as a milestone in the global reckoning over sexual misconduct by powerful men. Weinstein’s lawyers have portrayed the case as the result of a climate of accusation run amok.
The once-powerful and feared executive brought to the screen such Oscar-winning movies as “Pulp Fiction," “The King's Speech,” “Shakespeare in Love" and “Chicago” and hobnobbed with the elite in Hollywood and beyond, a point prosecutors made by showing jurors a photo of Weinstein with former president Bill Clinton. A prosecutor also told the judge that Weinstein had taken calls from Clinton while Weinstein was with one of his accusers.
The rape accuser found a needle in the hotel room bathroom after the alleged assault and realised Weinstein had injected himself to get an erection, Hast said. In addition to the two women he is charged with attacking, prosecutors plan to call to the stand four other accusers, including actress Annabella Sciorra, in a bid to depict Weinstein as a monster who lured women with offers of career help, then forced himself on them.
“She told him to get out. She told him no. But Harvey Weinstein was undeterred,” Hast said. She said the actress eventually stopped fighting Weinstein, “hoping it would end," and was left "emotionally and physically destroyed, passed out on the floor.”Cheronis said the 2013 rape accuser sent Weinstein a request that year asking for “time privately” with him and another message letting him know, “I got a new number. I just wanted you to have it. … Always good to hear your voice.
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