The accusation completed the delivery of his closing argument on Wednesday afternoon to the delay of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual crimes in New York.
“The accused thought that the rules did not apply to him. It is now the time to let him know the rules [do] Apply to him, ”said district prosecutor Nicole Blumberg to the jury.
Blumberg summed up the testimonies of the accusers Miriam Haley, Kaja Sokola and Jessica Mann – who, during the trial of several weeks, described their sexual assaults presumed by Weinstein.
“He underestimated their power and strength,” said Blumberg about the accusers who came out.
Tuesday, in the defense summary, Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, reiterated the argument that the accusers had lied – claiming that all their sexual meetings with Weinstein were consensual and calling these “transactional” relations.
Aidala described the three accusers as “women with broken dreams” who were angry with Weinstein for their lack of success in the entertainment industry. He also said they were motivated by money or fame to testify.
“If this guy was not Harvey Weinstein, would we even be here?” Aidala said.
Blumberg refuted the defense that the three women accused Weinstein of sexual assault to request financial compensation or notoriety.
The prosecutor argued that he contacted Sokola, who did not testify during the Weinstein trial in 2020, to take a stand – and not the reverse. She also pointed out what happened to Haley and Mann after their testimony in this trial: Haley changed the spelling of his last name, while Mann did not speak to the media for more than a year after the end of the New York trial.
“Only in a rape trial,” said Blumberg, “we really feel like you are the person in trial.”
Blumberg added: “Who puts himself through it unless they tell the truth?”
Weinstein is accused of two counts of having committed a “criminal sex” in the first degree and a leader of rape in the third degree, following accusations of Haley, Sokola and Mann. During his trial in 2020, the film’s magnate was found guilty of having sexually abused the former budding actor Mann and former television production assistant Haley – but these convictions were canceled in 2024. Weinstein pleaded not guilty to all the leaders of his demotion.
The jury, made up of seven women and five men, should start the deliberations on Thursday.
