by Los Angeles prosecutors told a judge Tuesday they will not retrial Harvey Weinstein, who was convicted sentenced the rape and sexual assault of a woman, on charges involving two others that left the jury deadlocked.
Assistant District Attorney Paul Thompson announced Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench’s decision at a hearing in downtown Los Angeles. The judge granted a defense motion to dismiss the charges and said Weinstein would be taken back to New York, where he had been convicted in a similar case.
Weinstein’s attorney, Jacqueline Sparagna, said he maintained his innocence on the charges.
In December, a Los Angeles jury convicted Weinstein, 70, of raping and sexually assaulting Italian model and actor Evgeniya Chernyshova and himself was convicted to 16 years in prison. That’s in addition to the 23-year sentence he’s already serving in New York for a 2020 conviction.
The jury could not reach unanimous verdicts on the number of rapes and the number of sexual assaults Jennifer Siebel-Newsom — a documentary filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom — and a sexual battery count with model Lauren Young.
Young testified as a supporting witness at Weinstein’s New York trial, but was not part of the prosecution there because she was in California. She said at Tuesday’s hearing that she was “very disappointed” that prosecutors would not move forward with a retrial.
“For 10 years I have done everything I could to seek justice for what the defendant did to me,” Young said, reading from prepared remarks while her attorney, Gloria Allred, stood behind her. “I didn’t get the justice I hoped for.”
Ten of the twelve jurors agreed to convict Weinstein on the sexual charges against Young.
Thompson said the difficulty in getting Young’s story corroborated by hesitant witnesses was a factor. He commended Young for testifying “credibly and bravely,” saying, “We have never wavered in our confidence in her.”
“It’s a difficult decision,” Thompson said. “We definitely wanted to see justice for all the victims.”
He added that Weinstein would likely only face an additional year in prison if convicted of sexual battery, and that that extra stretch isn’t worth another trial.
The Associated Press does not typically credit people who say they have been sexually abused unless they publicly identify themselves or consent through their attorneys, as the women named here have done.
Siebel Newsom’s attorney, Elizabeth Fegan, said in a statement after the hearing that she respected the prosecutor’s decision not to retry the charges against her.
“The First Partner’s primary intention in coming forward was to ensure that Weinstein spent the rest of his life in prison,” Fegan said. She added that “my client would have been willing to support prosecutors if they chose to try Weinstein again if the court had not rendered an appropriate verdict, even given the tremendous emotional toll it took on her.” would inflict.”
Assistant District Attorney Marlene Martinez read a statement from Siebel Newsom at the hearing.
“The defenses reopened and exacerbated my trauma,” the statement said. “He tried to ruin my life and the lives of so many other women. He deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison.”
Sparagna said at the hearing that the encounter with Siebel Newsom was consensual, his attorneys argued at the trial. Weinstein insisted at his sentencing that he had never met Chernyshova. His attorneys also deny he was ever with Young in the hotel room where she said the attack took place.
After the hearing, Allred identified another client who had been charged with rape and sexual assault against Weinstein, but who refused to attend the trial at the last moment, resulting in the charges against her being dismissed.
The woman, Australian actress and model Kate Jaggard, said in a statement that she was willing to be cross-examined at the trial but was unable to show up to testify due to circumstances beyond her control.
She said she was “deeply disappointed” that Lench would not allow her and other women Weinstein had not been convicted of assault to make victim impact testimony at his sentencing. But she said, “The conviction was a win for all sexual assault victims.”
Allred is appealing the judge’s decision to the California Supreme Court in the hope that such statements of effect will be admissible in similar rulings.
Weinstein’s conviction in New York is being appealed, and his attorneys plan to appeal his conviction in California.
His spokesman, Juda Engelmayer, said that with no pending retrial, Weinstein “can focus on the charges on which he was convicted” and “evidence to support Harvey’s claims that it never happened and that he didn’t know that person.” or hit”.
Weinstein himself said in a statement that he reads books about legendary defense attorney Clarence Darrow “so I can understand more for my own legal defense as I continue the monumental challenge of ultimately proving my innocence.”
