Closing arguments kicked off Tuesday morning at Harvey Weinstein‘s retrial in New York Metropolis.
After asserting the protection had rested its case, Weinstein’s legal professional, Arthur Aidala, started delivering the closing argument to the jury.
Aidala reiterated the protection’s argument that the accusers had lied and that each one of their sexual encounters with Weinstein had been consensual. He additionally urged the jury to dismiss the case if that they had any doubts in regards to the prosecution’s claims or had been left in a “state of uncertainty.”
“This isn’t about innocence,” Aidala mentioned. “That is about: did they show their case past an inexpensive doubt?”
He later added, “These are the folks they need you to consider — they’re all ladies with damaged goals.”
Weinstein is charged with two counts of committing a “felony sexual act” within the first diploma and one rely of third-degree rape, following accusations by three ladies: former TV manufacturing assistant Miriam Haley, former mannequin Kaja Sokola and former aspiring actor Jessica Mann. Weinstein has pleaded not responsible to all counts.
Aidala characterised Weinstein’s relationships with Haley, Sokola and Mann as “transactional.”
“He’s the one getting abused right here,” Aidala mentioned of Weinstein, noting that the previous Hollywood producer paid for the ladies’s flights and different bills and invited them to occasions.
He later claimed that the accusers wished to “reduce the road” and “take the shortcut,” believing Weinstein was their means in. However once they failed to search out success within the leisure trade, Aidala mentioned, “They’re mad. They’re mad to today.”
A lot of the protection’s closing argument targeted on Aidala’s detailed recounting of every accuser’s testimony from the weeks-long trial, throughout which he emphasised their continued interactions with Weinstein after the alleged assaults and highlighted inconsistencies or gaps of their recollections throughout cross-examination.
At one level, Aidala referenced testimony from cardiologist Ewa Sokola, the older sister of accuser Kaja. He argued that she in the end turned a protection witness after testifying that whereas Kaja appeared tense following the alleged assault in 2006, she by no means disclosed that something had occurred.
“She was supporting our principle of the case,” Aidala mentioned of Ewa Sokola. “That every little thing was tremendous along with her sister.”
Towards the top of the protection’s closing argument, Aidala claimed that the three ladies accused Weinstein of sexual assault in a bid for fame and monetary compensation.
He concluded, “If this man wasn’t Harvey Weinstein, would we even be right here?”
District legal professional Nicole Blumberg then approached the jury to offer the prosecution’s summation.
Blumberg described Weinstein’s energy and affect in Hollywood on the time of the alleged assaults, calling him a “titan within the leisure trade.” She mentioned he used that affect to “bodily and emotionally overpower” people just like the accusers, all of whom had aspirations of constructing careers in leisure.
“He didn’t have an curiosity of their careers,” Blumberg mentioned. “He had an curiosity of their our bodies.”
She continued, “He didn’t care what they wished. He cared what he wished.”
Blumberg addressed Aidala’s declare that Weinstein was “the one getting abused right here,” responding, “The protection is not any sufferer on this case — and to counsel in any other case is offensive.”
The prosecution’s closing argument is scheduled to renew Wednesday morning.
The disgraced film mogul was serving a 23-year sentence in New York after being convicted of sexual assault and rape in his 2020 felony trial. Nonetheless, in April 2024, Weinstein’s conviction was overturned after the New York Court docket of Appeals dominated that the trial dedicated an error by together with testimonies from three extra accusers when they need to not have been permitted. These testimonies had been deemed prejudicial, as they didn’t present related perception into the fees he confronted.
Weinstein was additionally convicted of rape in Los Angeles in 2022 and sentenced to an extra 16 years in jail.
