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Prosecutors in Los Angeles have put their case on hold during the trial of Harvey Weinstein, who they accuse of raping two women and sexually assaulting two others.
The move by Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson comes after nearly four weeks of testimony from 44 witnesses.
Weinstein is accused of committing crimes against four of them: a model, another a model and actress, and a third a masseur.
The fourth is Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker who was an actress when she was accused of rape and is now married to California Governor Gavin Newsom, She delivered the most dramatic moment of the trial so far with emotional testimony.
Four other women who were not involved in the charges testified that Weinstein sexually assaulted them as prosecutors sought to prove he had a propensity for such behavior.
Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench denied a motion by Weinstein’s lawyers to dismiss all charges against Weinstein, saying prosecutors had failed to prove it.
“If you guys haven’t realized the fact, we’re nearing the end,” Ms. Lankey told jurors, who will be on Thanksgiving leave and return Nov. 28 to take testimony from defense witnesses.
She warned them against consuming any media related to the trial, specifically “any movie trailers or films that might be relevant to this case — well, not relevant to this case, but relevant to this issue”.
Without saying the name of the film, which she was apparently referring to, which was released Friday, she said it recounts the story of a New York Times report that put Weinstein at the center of the #MeToo movement in 2017.
Once the jury was dismissed, Weinstein’s attorneys entered a new plea of not guilty to the amended indictment, dropping four of the 11 previous charges against him.
The move became necessary when prosecutors said earlier this week that the accuser, known in court as Jane Doe #5, would not testify and would not pursue the charges. When asked why, they would not give a reason.
Weinstein spokeswoman Juda Engelmayer said in response to the dropped allegations that “this witness may feel uncomfortable being scrutinized after knowing the truth of the matter”.
Prosecutors also did not explain why Mel Gibson disappeared. They never called the actor, director and one of the trial’s most anticipated witnesses. The judge ruled at the start of the trial that Gibson could testify about his conversations with Weinstein, a massage therapist accused of sexual assault.
To get them dismissed, Weinstein’s attorney, Alan Jackson, reviewed the seven remaining charges against his client and offered a possible preview of the defense’s closing arguments.
Mr Jackson said allegations that Weinstein raped and sexually assaulted an Italian model known at trial as Doe 1 in 2013 were particularly baseless, arguing there was no convincing evidence that “the episode never happened”.
Mr Jackson said there was no evidence of “any restraint” to qualify for a sexual assault offense in the case involving model Lauren Young.
Ms. Yang, the only Weinstein accuser to testify at the New York and Los Angeles trials, said she was harassed in 2013 when Weinstein prevented her from leaving the bathroom, masturbated in front of her and touched her breasts in a hotel. Paralyzed by fear.
Mr. Jackson said there was ample evidence, including emails the two exchanged over the ensuing years, that Sibel Newsom and Weinstein had consensual sexual encounters, which she later reclassified as rape.
“Defendant’s motion is denied,” Ms. Lankey responded. “I think there is enough evidence to bring all of these counts to a jury, and I will.”
Weinstein served two years of his 23-year sentence for his conviction in New York and remained in a Los Angeles jail throughout the trial.
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