Harvey Weinstein gets another 16 years in prison after California rape trial

The Los Angeles case involves a single victim. Called in court as Jane Doe 1, the The Italian actress has accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting her at a Beverly Hills hotel after a film festival in 2013. Three other women have also accused Weinstein, now 70, of misconduct during the trial of Los Angeles. Weinstein was acquitted of one of those charges, and the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on the additional counts involving two other women.

Jane Doe 1 issued a statement in court Thursday about the trauma she suffered during Weinstein’s attack, telling Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench that no prison sentence would be “long enough to repair the damage”.

“Before that night, I was a very happy, confident woman. I valued myself and the relationship I had with God. I was excited about my future,” she says. accused brutally assaulted me.”

The AP reported that Weinstein also addressed the judge on Thursday. “I maintain that I am innocent,” he said, according to the news agency. “I have never raped or sexually assaulted Jane Doe 1.”

Weinstein’s trial began in 2017, after landmark investigations into his decades-long pattern of sexual misconduct were published by The New York Times and The New Yorker. These reports, which helped spark the MeToo movement, led to criminal investigations in several major cities. Weinstein, who has maintained his innocence since the allegations became public, was eventually charged in New York and Los Angeles on multiple counts of rape and sexual abuse. He is currently appealing his 2020 conviction in New York.

Ahead of Thursday’s sentencing, Lench denied a request from Weinstein’s legal team for a new trial and jury. According VarietyWeinstein’s team claimed in a motion filed last month that the jury received improper instructions during the two-month trial.

The new sentence fell short of what prosecutors had hoped for. They had called for Weinstein, 70, to be sentenced to the maximum sentence of 24 years, which they recommended he serve consecutively to his prison sentence in New York.

In 2021, a Delaware bankruptcy court approved a $17 million settlement agreement between nearly 40 women who had accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct and the Weinstein Company, the formidable independent film studio run by Weinstein and his brother, Bob.

This month, Jane Doe 1 filed a civil lawsuit against Weinstein in Los Angeles. She accuses Weinstein of sexual abuse and intentional infliction of emotional distress, according to the Los Angeles Times. According to a statement from her attorney, Dave Ring, the suit “seeks compensation from her for the horrific rape she endured and all the trouble she has suffered over the past 10 years as a result of that rape.” .

This story has been updated.