Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein announced Tuesday that he wanted to appeal his conviction for rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles, which could mean an additional nearly 18 years in prison.
Harvey Weinstein, who is already serving a 23-year prison sentence after his conviction in New York in 2020 for similar events, “is determined to continue his legal proceedings to finally prove his innocence,” according to a statement sent to AFP by his spokesman. .
“Obviously, Harvey is disappointed with the verdict,” the statement added, noting that the testimony on which his conviction is based “provides a strong basis for an appeal.”
Convicted of rape and two sexual assaults
The 70-year-old former movie king, who produced award-winning hits like “Pulp Fiction” and “The Artist,” was found guilty Monday of rape and two sexual assaults on a woman at a Beverly Hills hotel in 2013, al end of a trial that dissected the way in which he abused his power in Hollywood to attack various actresses with impunity.
After two months of trial, jurors fully agreed with one of the four anonymous women who accused him. However, they did not render a verdict on the charges of two other women, and found him not guilty of the accusations made by the latter.
Press investigations that revealed the first allegations in 2017 gave birth to the #MeToo movement, a global phenomenon for the liberation of women’s voices on sexual and gender-based violence.
On Monday, the woman recognized as a victim by the juries hailed the verdict and wished that her attacker “never in his life see the outside of a prison cell.” “Harvey Weinstein destroyed a part of me forever,” she insisted in a statement.
a predator”
On Tuesday, jurors failed to be unanimous on the possible aggravating circumstances of the attack on him. Limit the maximum penalty incurred by the former producer to 18 years behind bars, instead of 24.
The verdict of this new trial in Los Angeles was especially important for the former producer. Because after an initial denial of justice, the New York Supreme Court finally authorized him in August to appeal his 2020 conviction, an initial decision that had been a major victory for the #MeToo movement.
At the hearing, the prosecution portrayed Harvey Weinstein as an all-powerful ogre, a “predator” whose stranglehold on Hollywood – the films he produced have received more than 330 Oscar nominations and 81 statuettes – have long prevented his victims from speaking out. , because of fear. of repercussions on his careers.
His defense systematically questioned the word of the four accusers during the trial and insisted on the lack of material evidence and forensic elements.
In all, nearly 90 women, including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rosanna Arquette, have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, assault or rape. But the statute of limitations has been exceeded in many of these cases, some dating back to 1977. The former producer is also accused in the UK of sexual assaults dating back to 1996.
Source: BFM TV
