Harvey Weinstein does not plan to testify at sex crimes retrial
That means jurors soon will get the case against the former movie studio boss who propelled the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct.
The trial will move on to closing arguments on Tuesday without testimony from Weinstein, Arthur Aidala said on Sunday night.
The court handles other cases on Mondays.
It is unclear whether jury deliberations would begin on Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday.
It was a fraught decision for Weinstein, who has never answered questions in open court about any of the accusations women have made. He did not testify at previous trials in New York and California and was convicted in both.
He denies the allegations, and lawyer Mr Aidala has said that Weinstein was giving a lot of thought to whether to take the stand this time.
While his California appeal winds on, Weinstein won a new trial in his New York rape and sexual assault case when the state's highest court overturned his 2020 conviction.
He is charged in New York with raping Jessica Mann in 2013 and forcing oral sex on Miriam Haley and Kaja Sokola, separately, in 2006.
Ms Mann was an actor and hairstylist, Ms Haley a production assistant and producer, and Ms Sokola a model who aspired to an acting career.
All three women have testified for days at the retrial, giving emotional and graphic accounts of what they say they endured from a powerbroker who suggested he would help them achieve their show-business dreams, but then manoeuvred them into private settings and preyed on them.
His lawyers have argued that anything that happened between him and his accusers was consensual.
In the US, defendants in criminal cases are not obligated to testify, and many decide not to, for various reasons.
Among them: the prospect of being questioned by prosecutors.
Weinstein has been watching the New York retrial intently from the defence table, sometimes shaking his head at accusers' testimony and often leaning over to one or another of his lawyers to convey his thoughts.
One of the lawyers, Mr Aidala, said outside court on Thursday that Weinstein thought a lot of holes had been poked in the accusers' accounts, but that he also was pondering whether jurors would feel they needed to hear from him.
The jury has heard from a few other defence witnesses — one of them via a transcript read by court employees.
That witness, Talita Maia, testified at the 2020 trial but was unavailable this time, so jurors instead got a reading Friday of her earlier testimony.
One court stenographer voiced the 2020 lawyers' questions, while another stenographer sat in the witness box and rendered Ms Maia's answers, at times with emphasis.
Ms Maia and Ms Mann were roommates and friends in 2013, but later fell out.
According to Ms Maia, Ms Mann never mentioned in those days that Weinstein had hurt her in any way.
Both Ms Maia and another witness, Thomas Richards, met up with Ms Mann and Weinstein shortly after Ms Mann has said she was raped.
Both witnesses testified that they saw nothing amiss.
Mr Richards, who was subpoenaed to appear and said he did not want to be seen as a Weinstein supporter, recalled Ms Mann and Weinstein having a 'friendly conversation' at a meal he shared with them that day.
Ms Mann testified earlier this month that she never told police or anyone else that Weinstein had sexually assaulted her because she didn't think she'd be believed, and she was scared of how he might react.
Weinstein's defence also brought in Ms Sokola's pal Helga Samuelsen, who also has friendly ties to the former producer.
Ms Samuelsen testified on Thursday that Weinstein visited Ms Sokola once and spent about a half- hour in a bedroom with her in a New York apartment the women briefly shared in 2005; Ms Sokola told jurors no such thing happened.
The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they have been sexually assaulted, but Ms Sokola, Ms Mann and Ms Haley have given their permission to be identified.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
9 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Johnny Depp claims he was betrayed by some of his closest friends who deserted him after he was accused of abuse by ex-wife Amber Heard
Johnny Depp has spoken out about how he was 'deserted' by his closest friends after he was accused of abuse by his ex-wife Amber Heard. Jonny married Amber in 2015 after the pair met on set of The Rum Diary (2011). However, she filed for divorce the following year, and it was finalised in 2017. The Hollywood star, 62, always strenuously denied the claims made by Amber, 39, during the couple's divorce proceedings in 2016. The couple's alleged violent relationship sent shockwaves throughout the industry and both parties were dropped from work projects at the time. Johnny was recast in the Fantastic Beasts series by Mads Mikkelsen, while Amber claimed she lost out on opportunities due to the online backlash. As well as being axed from jobs, Johnny has now claimed he was also let down by some of the people in his inner circle who attended his children's birthday parties. Speaking to the Sunday Times, Johnny criticised the actions of three of his close friends and claimed he had been a 'crash test dummy for the #MeToo movement'. He said: 'I'll tell you what hurts. There are people, and I'm thinking of three, who did me dirty. Those people were at my kids' parties, throwing them in the air.' 'And, look, I understand people who could not stand up [for me], because the most frightening thing to them was making the right choice.' Johnny's agent of 30 years who was sacked in 2016, Tracey Jacobs, spoke out against him during the highly publicised defamation trial. Tracey claimed that studios were 'reluctant' to hire Johnny because of his reputation for being late to work. He said of Tracey: 'My loyalty is the last thing anybody could question. I was with one agent for 30 years, but she spoke in court about how difficult I was.' During the Depp v. Heard trial that came to an end in June 2022, Johnny received a rally of support from fans at the Fairfax County courtroom in Virginia. Johnny and Amber's publicised legal issues began when he filed a libel lawsuit against The Sun's publisher and it's executive editor Dan Wootton over a 2018 article which included claims that he was a 'wife beater.' But in 2020, the High Court of Justice ruled in favour of The Sun's publisher and Wootton, but Johnny later sued Amber in 2019 for defamation over a 2018 op-ed article she wrote for The Washington Post. She countersued her ex-husband in 2020 and the trial officially began in April 2022. Two months later, the jury's verdict was in favour of Johnny. At the time, the star had offered his reaction to the ruling and expressed that the 'jury gave me my life back. I am truly humbled.' He star also expressed, 'Speaking the truth was something that I owed to my children and to all those who have remained steadfast in their support of me. I feel at peace knowing I have finally accomplished that.' Amber has since moved and settled in Spain - where she raises her three children, a daughter born in 2021 via surrogacy and she announced in May that she had also welcomed twins. Johnny has also made his return to the big screen following the trial, such as Jeanne du Barry (2023). Last year in October, Johnny insisted that he 'holds no ill will towards anyone' following the legal drama and bitter divorce from Heard. 'Honestly, I can sit here this very second and think about all the hit pieces, and how everybody was against me, and yeah yeah yeah he is off the map … endless stuff,' he told The Hollywood Reporter. 'I can remember it all. Went through it all. Some of it was not the most beautiful time, some of it was hilarious. Some of it was mad.' The actor added, 'The thing is, it simply just was, and it simply just is. So, for me, it happened. I learned, man. 'Everything that we experience, whether you're given a snow cone or walking your dog, you learn something somewhere along the way.' Johnny then explained, 'So I don't have any ill feelings toward anyone. I don't have this great reserve of hatred, because hatred requires caring. Why carry that baggage?' Johnny is preparing to hit the big screen once again for the upcoming thriller Day Drinker. The movie is being directed by Marc Webb and also stars Penelope Cruz, Madelyn Cline, Manu Rios and Javier Botet. The premise is: 'An enigmatic stranger forms an unlikely bond with a grieving bartender who lost her lover, their lives intertwining in unexpected ways,' per IMDB. A first look photo was recently released which shows an unrecognizable Depp stepping into the shoes of his character - which includes graying hair and a beard. When questioned by The Sunday Times if he has any regrets, the actor admitted, 'I have no regrets about anything - because, truly, what can we do about last week's dinner? Not a f***ing thing.'
Metro
a day ago
- Metro
Johnny Depp claims he was a ‘crash test dummy' for MeToo movement
Johnny Depp has opened up about his high-profile marriage to Amber Heard and how he believes the #MeToo movement impacted his career. The Pirates of the Caribbean, 62, star believes he was a 'crash test dummy' for MeToo, which is a social movement against sexual violence and sexual assault, advocating for women specifically to speak out. Depp was married to the Aquaman actress, 39, between 2015 and 2017. When she filed for divorce, Heard accused him of domestic violence, which led to him being dropped by Disney after 14 years playing Captain Jack Sparrow. The fallout involved two trials. In the first, Depp took action against The Sun for referring to him as a 'wife-beater', with his 2018 libel suit making it to court in summer 2020 and ending with the court deeming the characterisation to be 'substantially true'. A further legal battle followed when he successfully sued Heard over an article she wrote for The Washington Post, in which she shared her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse. Depp's lawyers said this falsely accused the actor himself of being an abuser. To say the trial was big news would be an understatement, with proceedings streamed live to 3.5million viewers and fans waiting outside court in droves. In the end, the jury ruled Heard did defame Depp, but Depp also defamed Heard while fighting against her abuse charges. At the time, Heard said the verdict had 'set back the clock to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated'. Now, Depp, who claimed Heard was the one who violently abused him, has spoken to The Sunday Times about the public mudslinging and unsettling details of his marriage the public became privy to. 'Look, it had gone far enough,' he replied firmly. 'I knew I'd have to semi-eviscerate myself. Everyone was saying, 'It'll go away!' But I can't trust that. What will go away? The fiction pawned around the f***ing globe? No, it won't. 'If I don't try to represent the truth, it will be like I've actually committed the acts I am accused of. And my kids will have to live with it. Their kids. Kids that I've met in hospitals. 'So the night before the trial in Virginia, I didn't feel nervous. If you don't have to memorise lines, if you're just speaking the truth? Roll the dice.' Raising his voice and becoming agitated, he acknowledged that 'none of this was going to be easy'. 'But I didn't care,' he declared. 'I thought, 'I'll fight until the bitter f***ing end.' And if I end up pumping gas? That's alright. I've done that before.' The interviewer probed Depp about the reaction to his and Heard's case, given that someone he had been in love with received much less support and more scrutiny. 'Well, that is the thing,' he began in reply. 'That I had been in love with.' That's where we could start, to look at the roots of 'in love with'.' Reflecting on his childhood, he detailed: 'Because with regards to how I was raised, I wouldn't say it was a house without love, but it was an intense love, and I would not say that myself, or my siblings, or my pop and mom, experienced any great love or bliss.' Depp has said he did not live in a happy home, as there were 'many episodes of conflict'. 'So, what were my initial dealings with what we call 'love'? Clearly obtuse. 'And what that means is, if you're a sucker like I am, sometimes you look in a person's eye and see some sadness, some lonely thing, and you feel you can help that person.' While Depp insists he has 'no regrets about anything' in life, he admits feeling 'hurt' when people whom he trusted did not 'stand up' for him during his trials, accusing them of doing him 'dirty'. The Willy Wonka actor noted that he is 'weird', but that his 'loyalty is the last thing anybody could question'. On his involvement in the #MeToo era, Depp said: 'I was pre-MeToo. I was like a crash test dummy for MeToo. It was before Harvey Weinstein. More Trending 'And I sponged it, took it all in. And so I wanted, from the hundreds of people I've met in that industry, to see who was playing it safe.' 'Better go woke!', he hissed. After being ruled to be a victim of defamation, Depp was awarded approximately $15million (£12m) in damages. Heard, who announced in May that she had welcomed twin babies, was awarded $2m (£1.5m) in compensatory damages. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: What's happening with Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni lawsuit ahead of 'explosive' series? MORE: TV chef Anne Burrell's death being investigated as 'possible overdose' MORE: Truth behind Robert Irwin and Shawn Mendes romance rumours rocking the internet
Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
Johnny Depp: My friends betrayed me
Johnny Depp, the Hollywood actor, has claimed he was betrayed by his friends after being accused of abuse by his ex-wife Amber Heard. The strongly denied claims were first levelled against Depp, 62, by Heard during divorce proceedings in 2016. The actor's failed marriage to the 39-year-old actress made international headlines when details of alleged violence between the pair were aired in courts in the UK and US. Depp has now criticised the behaviour of several close friends at the time and also claimed he had been a 'crash test dummy for the #MeToo movement'. 'I'll tell you what hurts. There are people, and I'm thinking of three, who did me dirty. Those people were at my kids' parties, throwing them in the air,' he told The Sunday Times. 'And, look, I understand people who could not stand up [for me], because the most frightening thing to them was making the right choice.' One individual who spoke out against Depp despite their long working relationship was Tracey Jacobs, his agent of 30 years, who was sacked in 2016. She claimed during Depp's legal battles that studios were 'reluctant' to hire him because of his lateness. Depp said of Jacobs: 'My loyalty is the last thing anybody could question. I was with one agent for 30 years, but she spoke in court about how difficult I was.' His image came under global scrutiny when he brought a libel case against The Sun newspaper after he was described as a 'wife-beater' in a column. Numerous alleged details of the couple's marriage were made public during the case, including claims of the actor having a finger severed, being struck by Heard, passing out drunk and finding her faeces in their bed. Depp said he felt compelled to risk revealing details of his personal life, adding: 'Look, it had gone far enough. I knew I'd have to semi-eviscerate myself. Everyone was saying 'It'll go away'. But I can't trust that.' While a judge ruled against Depp in his High Court case against The Sun, the star won damages for defamation from Heard in June 2022 following a legal battle in the US. But the allegations of abuse levelled against Depp by Heard continued to dog the film star, whose presence at the Cannes film festival in 2023 was opposed by several feminist groups in France. Following a period away from major Hollywood productions, Depp has this year been working on his comeback film Day Drinker. In the thriller, Depp will star as a mysterious guest on a private yacht who finds himself entangled with a criminal, played by Penelope Cruz.
