Harvey Weinstein convicted of 3 of 7 charges, including rape

Harvey Weinstein was found guilty on Monday of rape and sexual assault against one of the four women he was accused of assaulting in Los Angeles. 

After weeks of testimony and 10 days of deliberations, jurors found Weinstein guilty of three of the seven charges pressed against him. He was convicted of rape, sexual penetration by a foreign object, and forcible oral copulation against one of his accusers, a model, and actress who was assaulted by the movie mogul in Beverly Hill in February 2013. 

“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 to the end, and I did… I hope Harvey Weinstein never sees the outside of a prison cell during his lifetime,” said the victim, identified as Jane Doe 1 in court. 

Prosecutors said that Weinstein, 70, used his influence in Hollywood to lure women into meeting him and then would sexually assault them. 

The jurors in Los Angeles acquitted Weinstein of one count of sexual battery by restraint. Additionally, the jurors could not decide on two counts related to accusations made by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, and one count related to Lauren Young, a young model, and screenwriter. 

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges against him. 

“Harvey is obviously disappointed, however hopefully because with this particular accuser there are good grounds to appeal based on time and location of alleged events,” Weinstein’s spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said in a statement. “He is grateful the jury took their time to deliberate on the other counts and he is prepared to continue fighting for his innocence.”

Weinstein faces a possible sentence of 24 years in prison, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. The film producer is already serving a 23-year sentence related to a 2020 New York rape conviction. 

Jurors will determine the outcome of Weinstein’s sentencing hearing on Tuesday, according to the DA’s office.