Photo: Angela Weiss / Pool / AFP via Getty Images
For 30 years, Harvey Weinstein “decided who was and who was released” in films and television – deployment of this immense influence to tackle women, prosecutors said during his most powerful tool in Manhattan – the cinematographic script, production, role “, prosecutor Shannon Lucey continued his opening. “He used these dream opportunities as a weapon.”
Weinstein faces three counts in his new trial: two leaders of the first degree criminal act and a third -degree rape. He is accused by three women: Miriam “Mimi” Haley, Jessica Mann, and a third woman, identified at the Supreme Criminal Court for the first time like Kaja Sokola. Haley and Mann took up position during his first trial five years ago, where he was found guilty of having sexually assaulted them in a procedure which marked a moment in the watershed for the movement me too. Sokola allegedly alleged that Weinstein had sexually assaulted her in a hotel in downtown Manhattan on an occasion in the spring of 2006. Prosecutors allege that Weinstein has forced oral sex on her.
The former film producer was already sentenced to 23 years in prison in 2020. On April 25, 2024, the highest court in New York threw his conviction following his appeal. The court determined that the Weinstein trial was unfair due to the testimonies of women that he was not accused of assault. The appearance of Weinstein in court remained largely unchanged from the previous procedure: he was seated in a wheelchair and sported a dark blue suit. Tarale Wulff and Dawn Dunning, who testified against him during his first trial for alleged attacks for which he was not charged, were seated in the rear row of the courtyard.
Sokola previously declared in interviews and civil procedures that Weinstein had attacked as a minor, and Lucey’s opening presented himself for the first time that he again assaulted her in adulthood. Sokola met Weinstein for the first time in 2002 at the age of 16 and went alone to New York from Poland for a modeling contract. “All in these years was mixed emotions. She was forced to do well at school, between all trips, she was forced to do well in these models of model – because that is what her work demanded,” said Lucey. “It gave him his mother and his sister rights.” His parents were accomplished in Poland and concerned about their image, which added to Sokola’s vulnerability, said Lucey.
A few days after their arrival in New York, a club promoter invited Sokola to a restaurant in downtown hip. “Promoters say that pretty girls and models come to be photographed with rich elderly,” said Lucey. The minor model met Weinstein for the first time at this place, where he would have asked her if she was interested in acting. She was.
A few days later, she agreed to meet Weinstein in a restaurant to talk about her career, but instead, they came to what seemed to be a building. Inside, Weinstein would have dropped his pants and assaulted it by touching its genitals. The prosecutors claim that Weinstein told him that he had made the career of Gwyneth Paltrow and Penelope Cruz. (In 2017, Paltrow accused Weinstein of sexual harassment.) “You have to work on your darkness,” he said.
About two years later, Sokola would have heard of Weinstein to meet again. At first, things were “normal” in the car, until Weinstein “this look”. He would have tried to catch him, but Sokola pushed his hand, said: “This is not what we do” and left the car, “said Lucey.
In the coming years, as Sokola’s profile that a model grew up, she has been in contact with Weinstein periodically, which led to an additional concert on the Nanny Diaries, With Scarlett Johansson and Alicia Keys. “She fully recognized that it was not a typical additional experience. Said Lucey. “In 2006, Sokola’s sister, cardiologist, came to visit. Sokola, his sister, and Weinstein had lunch in a hotel. She was delighted to show that she knew a great Hollywood producer. ”
Weinstein invited Sokola upstairs, saying that he had scripts so that she could see him. Arriving in an empty room, she started to panic when her behavior changed again and he told her to remove her clothes and tights. “For Kaja, it was an instant shame, self -judgment,” Lucey told jurors. “”How am I still here?“Sokola freezed and Weinstein pressed her against the bed after the attack, Lucey said, Weinstein joked:” You see, it was not so bad. “
Weinstein’s defense told the jurors that his behavior had not always been exemplary – yes, he had cheated on his wife, and no, he did not act as a work supervisor – but it was not the same thing as rape. “These are not allegations that he met someone in an alley and threw them and committed a crime,” said the main defense lawyer Arthur Aidala. “All this is based on relationships, friendships.” He added: “There are a lot of real estate between immorality and illegality.” Aidala also said that these women were trying to use Weinstein to move forward. “You will hear:” They were cozy. They were friendly. They wanted it. They needed him, “said Aidala. “He could change the trajectory of their lives.” The trial will continue with the testimony of the witnesses and is expected to last four to six weeks.
