The ex-model takes the position in the new trial of Harvey Weinstein

By Jennifer Peltz and Michael R. Sisak, Associated Press

New York (AP) – Days after Harvey Weinstein’s first sexual assault trial in 2020, prosecutors spoke in private for the first time with a former model who had allegedly forced him to forced oral sex.

But this jury has never been informed of Kaja’s complaint (Keye’-Ah) Sokola. The prosecutors said they were still investigating allegation when Weinstein, a film tycoon that became #MeToo Pariah, was sentenced in February 2020 for accusations of other accusations of other women.

On Wednesday, Sokola began to tell her new jury his story.

Sokola did not watch Weinstein passing in front of him and on the stand of the witness in a hearing room in Manhattan where he is tried again. A court of appeal canceled his conviction for rape and sexual assault in 2020, returning these accusations for new trial, and the prosecutors subsequently added another accusation of sexual assault based on the allegations of Sokola.

As she began to testify to her life before the alleged assault in 2006, Weinstein looked towards her, with her right hand on her mouth.

Weinstein, 73, pleaded not guilty of all accusations. His lawyers argue that his accusers have agreed to sex with him in the hope of obtaining cinema and television opportunities, and the Defense stressed that women stayed in contact with him for a while after the alleged assault.

Women, on the other hand, say that the Oscar -winning producer used the prospect of business work to attack them.

The Sokola, born in Polish, 39, is a psychotherapist and author and said that she had recently launched a film production company.

She continued Weinstein after the whispering of the industry about her behavior towards women became a choir of public accusations in 2017, fueling the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct. Prosecutors said Sokola had finally received $ 3.5 million in remuneration.

Sokola testified that she was never interested in modeling – but rather to act and write – but her mother and sister decided that she should participate in a Polish model competition at the age of 14. She won a contract with a modeling agency and quickly juggled with college with photo sessions.

The following two years “were a very rapid growth lesson,” she said. In 2002, she was 16 years old and in New York to make the modeling rounds, without any parent at hand.

Sokola, who should continue to testify on Thursday, has not yet been questioned about Weinstein. Prosecutors said it was presented to him during this 2002 modeling trip to New York.

In his lawsuits, Sokola said that shortly after meeting Weinstein, he invited her to lunch to discuss his career but then sexually assaulted her. The prosecution allegedly allegedly harassed him and had abused emotionally for years later.

The criminal accusation stems from a case where Sokola argues that Weinstein has forced oral sex on her in a hotel in Manhattan in May 2006.

The prosecutors said it happened after Weinstein arranged so that Sokola was an extra in the film “The Nanny Diaries” and met her older sister on a visit, which she was trying to impress.

“She was proud to know him,” said her sister, cardiologist, the Dre Ewa (pronounced eh’-vah) on Wednesday.

She said that the three met in a hotel hall, discussed Italian films and Weinstein’s heart health, then he and the model left the table together.

Kaja Sokola was tense when she returned about half an hour later – “like someone who awaits the result of an exam” or Oscars – but said nothing about the alleged sexual assault, Dr. Sokola told jurors.

She said she was shocked to find out about the complaint more than a decade later, when she read it in a magazine article.

Weinstein lawyers will have the chance to question Kaja Sokola in the coming days. In an opening statement last month, defense lawyer Arthur Aidala asked why she had waited for years to come forward. Prosecutors argued that the accusers were reluctant to express themselves due to the richness and influence of Weinstein.