On Monday, movie executive Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles, marking a significant moment in his second trial and in the global #MeToo movement.
Prosecutors argued that Weinstein used his Hollywood influence to lure women into private meetings and then assault them.
The jury found him guilty of three of the seven charges against him, which included rape, sexual penetration with a foreign object, and forcible oral copulation.
These charges were related to an incident in 2013, in which a model and actress accused Weinstein of assaulting her in a Beverly Hills hotel room.
The jury also acquitted Weinstein of one count of sexual battery by restraint against a massage therapist in 2010, and could not reach a verdict on charges related to two other women.
Weinstein had pleaded not guilty to all seven charges. In response to the verdict, his spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, stated that Weinstein is “obviously disappointed,” but added that there may be grounds for appeal based on the time and location of the alleged events involving one of the accusers.
Engelmayer also noted that Weinstein is “prepared to continue fighting for his innocence.”
The once-powerful film producer faces a possible sentence of 24 years in prison for the Los Angeles conviction, in addition to the 23-year sentence he is currently serving in New York for a 2020 rape conviction.
Jurors will return to court on Tuesday to consider aggravating factors that will help determine the outcome of Weinstein’s sentencing hearing.
The District Attorney’s office will also decide whether to retry the counts on which the jury could not reach a verdict.
One of the accusers, identified as Jane Doe 1 in court, released a statement through her attorney saying, “Harvey Weinstein forever destroyed a part of me that night in 2013. I will never get that back.
The criminal trial was brutal. Weinstein’s lawyers put me through hell on the witness stand. But I knew I had to see this through the end, and I did… I hope Harvey Weinstein never sees the outside of a prison cell during his lifetime.”
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