The scandalous film producer faced a 25 -year sentence in the re -trial of the young sex acting lawsuit, after being sentenced to the sentence by 2020.
During the trial on April 23 in Manhattan, Harvey Weinstein, 73, was accused of sexual assault Kaja Sokola when she was 16 years old at an apartment in Soho, then bragged to the victim that helped promote Gwyneth Paltrow and Penélope Cruz.
Weinstein was taken to the judge room in a wheelchair, wearing a dark green suit, white shirt and tie. While the prosecutor described the corrupt attacks, he calmly took a sip of water.
Before that, the sentence23 years in prisonRegarding rape and sexual assault in March 2020 with this scandalous film producer was canceled when he appealed.
In the opening statement, Assistant Commissioner of Prosecutor Manhattan Shannon Lucey told the jury that the boss of the Miramax film company once pressed Poland -born girl Kaja Sokola down and forced oral sex “while she cried” in 2006.
The prosecutor said that Weinstein attacked Sokola for the first time in 2002, when she was 16 years old. Sokola agreed to meet him for lunch. Later, Weinstein told the driver to take them to her own apartment, inviting her to go to the house on the grounds that she needed to take “some papers”.
When we entered the house, Weinstein asked the girl to take off her shirt, saying “this is what happens in this industry”, then sexual attack. After the end, Weinstein mentioned Paltrow and Cruz before giving advice to Sokola that “it is necessary to change its stubbornness”.
Harvey Weinstein in the courtroom on April 23. Image:New post
Sokola, currently over 30 years old, is expected to testify at the trial with two other women, Jessica Mann and Miriam Haley. These two accused Weinstein to lure them into traps with promotion of career advancement and then sexual assault.
He was charged with Rape Mann and forced Haley to have oral sex. Both of them also testified at the Weinstein trial in 2020.
The prosecutor said the Hollywood tycoon “has a great control over those who work in the field of television and cinema because he decides who to enter and who is eliminated”.
Even after the 2002 attack, Sokola continued to contact Weinstein in the hope of starting an acting business. The producer won the Oscar “holding a golden ticket: the chance of success, or not”, the prosecutor said.
In 2006, Weinstein found Sokola a mass role in the movieNanny Diaries, where she had the opportunity to meet A -list actors, Scarlett Johannon and Alicia Keys. One day on the set, Weinstein stealthily approached her and whispered: “You are being treated specially.”
In April 2006, Weinstein continued to invite her to the hotel room, this time with the reason “viewing the script” … After sexual attack, he casually said: “See not, it’s not too bad.”
Weinstein was only charged with the case in 2006, facing a sentence of up to 25 years in prison for two sexual charges of one and four years in prison for the three -level rape charges.
Sokola did not publicly denounce Weinstein until after 2017, when the Hollywood tycoon became the center of the anti -sexual harassment movement worldwide #Metoo.
The prosecutors said Sokola filed a lawsuit against Weinstein in 2019 and was arranged in 2023 with the amount of $ 3 million compensation.
Kaja Sokola plans to testify against Harvey Weinstein in court. Image:Filmmagic
Weinstein did not plead guilty and denied sexual assault anyone.
The defense lawyer stated that the former director of the studio only participated in “The relationship with the benefit” based on the consensus with women in the form of reciprocal exchanges. “He gives them the chance to audition, giving them work. In return, they have sex with him voluntarily. Many years later, this becomes a problem,” the lawyer said.
Weinstein is currently treated at Bellevue Hospital after persuading the judge to temporarily move him from prison on Rikers Island on the grounds that he is not treated properly for many diseases.
Harvey Weinstein was born in 1952, was the co -founder of Miramax Company, producing many successful films likePulp Fiction(1994),Heavenly Creatures(1994),Shakespeare in Love(1998). Mr. Thang of the Oscar as a producerShakespeare in Loveand seven Tony Awards for many musical and dramatic works.
After leaving Miramax, Weinstein was the president of The Weinstein Company’s own film studio. In October 2017, Weinstein has been accused of sexual harassment and rape by more than 80 women from the late 1970s. These allegations sparked the social media campaign #Metoo and the allegations of sexual abuse later for many powerful men around the world.
Weinstein was dismissed by his wife, fired and eliminated from the American Academy of Sciences and Film Academicians.
In May 2018, Weinstein was arrested for rape allegations in New York. In February 2020, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison. In 2022, Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years in prison in the next trial in Los Angeles.
But in April 2024, the New York Court of Appeals reversed rape sentences in New York because of the “serious mistakes” in terms of procedures, ordered to re -trial.
