Jessica Mann, the third and last accuser to testify in the new trial of Harvey Weinstein, returned Tuesday at the stand to detail an alleged rape which, according to her, took place nine months after the charges he faced.
Mann began his testimony on Monday on what had started as a consensual relationship with the former Hollywood producer who then turned into a sexual assault. She recalled that Weinstein would be, sometimes, “would validate me so much”, but when she was said no, “the monster side would come out,” reported the Associated Press. Now cosmetologist and hairdresser, she said that she had met Weinstein at a party at the end of 2012 or early 2013, when she was around twenty and had recently moved to Los Angeles to pursue an actor career. Mann said that she and Weinstein, who were interested in her career ambitions, had several follow -up meetings to discuss professional issues. However, she allegedly alleged that Weinstein had rejected the borders, in particular by asking for a massage, which she said reluctantly.
At the end of 2013, Mann was in a serious relationship with another man and wanted to end his arrangement with Weinstein, although he refused to cooperate. She testified that once Weinstein discovered that Mann’s boyfriend was an actor, “he raged” and raped her.
“It happened so quickly and so energetic,” she said, while starting to cry on the stand. “He dragged me into the bedroom and threw me on the bed and said I owed him once again. I said, “Please don’t do it”. I beg him because I didn’t want to have sex with him. The ankle and withdrew me hard and the rapid way of raping me. Recognize yourself.
Mann left the stand to compose and, while she was heading towards Weinstein sitting next to her lawyers, showed her face and looked at him. When she left, Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala asked the judge a trial, saying that Mann’s testimony had nothing to do with the accusations and that she prejudiced to the jury. The judge rejected the request.
When she returned to the stand, Mann said that after the alleged rape, Weinstein “essentially blessed” her to continue her relationship with her boyfriend. “When I left, I was very disoriented and shaken, and I fell into the corridor as if I was drunk,” she said. She went to a friend and was afraid to go to the hospital to get a rape test kit, so she showed “for hours”.
“I was afraid of what would happen if I said her name,” she said. “The next day, I was very suicidal. I went for a very long walk because I felt so fucked up. ” Mann said that she wanted to continue her life and her career, so she did not recognize the alleged rape. During the following years, Weinstein sent him an email and would ask to meet, but Mann kept the communication professional and refused his requests.
On her first day of testimony on Monday, Mann said that she and a friend went to New York in March 2013, where they intended to meet Weinstein for breakfast. According to Mann, he arrived early and reserved a room at his hotel, despite his objections. Mann said that she was going upstairs with Weinstein to avoid a public confrontation, saying to her: “I don’t want to do that.” However, she said that she had closed the door when she was trying to leave, demanded that she are undressing and grabbed her by the arms. At that time, she “just gave up,” Mann told the courtroom. She allegedly alleged that Weinstein had then made unwanted sex on her, adding that she had later discovered what seemed to be an injection of a medication promoting erection in the bathroom trash.
Weinstein is accused of a third -degree rape leader as part of the March 2013 incident involving Mann. He also faced two counts of having committed a “criminal sex” in the first degree, based on the accusations of the former Polish model Kaja Sokola and the former television production assistant Miriam Haley.
