Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein will be sentenced in Los Angeles on Thursday for a rape conviction, adding to a more than two-decade-long sentence already handed down in New York.
Weinstein, 70, was indicted in the Los Angeles case in December, three years after he was convicted in a sex crimes trial in New York City.
In the Los Angeles case, a jury found Weinstein guilty of three counts related to the accuser known as Jane Doe 1: forcible rape, forcible oral sex and sexual penetration by a foreign object.
The jury found Weinstein not guilty of sexual battery by restraining a second accuser, identified as Jane Doe 2, and was unable to reach a verdict on the charges involving Jane Doe 3 and Jane Doe 4.
Attorney Gloria Allred filed a plea deal Tuesday on behalf of the three women after a judge denied them the ability to read victim impact statements at sentencing. Allred’s motion states that the decision violates women’s rights under the Law of Marcy, which gives rights to those who are directly or threatened by a crime.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said Weinstein could face a possible 24 years in prison in the Los Angeles case.
Weinstein’s legal team filed an appeal requesting a new trial, alleging that evidence about a romantic relationship between Jane Doe 1 and a witness was excluded that could have changed the jury’s verdict. .
Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year sentence in a rape case that was considered a landmark trial of the #MeToo movement.
In that case, he was convicted in New York in 2020 of third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act for crimes against two women, one an aspiring actress and the other a “Project Runway” production assistant. An appeal is pending.
Weinstein pleaded not guilty in both trials, and denied all allegations of non-consensual sex. In both trials, Weinstein waived his right to take the witness stand.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Weinstein and his younger brother, Bob, were stalwarts of the movie business, producing formative films such as “Pulp Fiction” and Oscar-winning dramas such as “Shakespeare in Love” and “The King’s Speech.”
In 2017, The New York Times and The New Yorker published explosive investigations into allegations of a pattern of sexual misconduct by Harvey Weinstein.
The stories inspired a wider focus on abuse of power and sexual harassment in the workplace that is widely known as the #MeToo movement.
