No Harvey Weinstein Retrial On Rape, Sex Assault Charges

LA – Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of raping and assaulting a single woman, and on Tuesday, Los Angeles prosecutors informed the judge that they would not retry Weinstein on the two other counts for which the jury was unable to reach a verdict.

At a hearing in downtown Los Angeles, Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench heard the ruling from Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson. Weinstein would be sent back to New York, where he was convicted in a related case after the judge approved a defense motion to dismiss the accusations.

Weinstein’s lawyer, Jacqueline Sparagna, stated that he continues to maintain his innocence.

Weinstein, 70, was found guilty by a Los Angeles jury in December of raping and sexually assaulting an Italian model and actor, and he was given a 16-year jail term. Along with that, he will also serve an additional 23 years in New York.

Jurors could not reach a unanimous decision on the charges of rape and sexual assault against documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, and the charge of sexual violence against model Lauren Young.

Young was a supporting witness during Weinstein’s New York trial but was not charged there as she was in California. She expressed her “great disappointment” at the decision by the prosecution not to pursue a retrial during the hearing on Tuesday.

Young read from prepared words while her attorney Gloria Allred stood behind her. “Over the past ten years, I have done all within my power to seek justice for what the defendant did to me. “I didn’t get the justice I hoped for,” the person said.

Ten of the jury’s twelve members voted to find Weinstein guilty of sexual battery on Young.

First Partner came out mainly to lock Weinstein up for the rest of his life

According to Thompson, one obstacle was making hesitant witnesses confirm Young’s account. The witness praised young’s testimony for being “credible and bold,” He said, “We never wavered in our faith in her.”

It’s a hard choice, Thompson acknowledged. “We wanted to see justice served for every victim,”

He said that if found guilty of the sexual battery charge, Weinstein would probably only serve an extra year in prison and that extra time was not worth another try.

Unless they come forward publicly, as the women identified below have, The Associated Press normally does not name anyone who claims to have experienced sexual abuse.

Following the hearing, Siebel Newsom’s attorney, Elizabeth Fegan, released a statement expressing appreciation for the prosecution’s choice not to retry the allegations against her.

Fegan claimed that the First Partner came out mainly to lock Weinstein up for the rest of his life. Even with the tremendous emotional toll, it would place on her, she continued, “had the court not given down a fitting sentence, my client would have been ready to back the prosecutors if they chose to retry Weinstein.”

Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez read Siebel Newsom’s statement aloud at the hearing.

“The defense reopened and compounded my trauma,” the statement read. He tried to ruin many other women’s lives, including mine. He deserves to serve the remainder of his days behind bars.

Weinstein’s attorneys intend to challenge his California conviction

At the hearing, Sparagna affirmed what his counsel had maintained during the trial: that the meeting with Siebel Newsom was consensual. After his sentence, Weinstein said he had never met the woman he had been found guilty of raping. Also, according to his attorneys, the Young incident never took place.

Following the hearing, Allred named another client against whom Weinstein had been charged with rape and sexual assault; however, because this client abruptly withdrew from the case, the charges against her were dropped.

In a statement, the Australian model and actor Kate Jaggard stated that she was prepared to face cross-examination during the trial but could not testify due to circumstances beyond her control.

She expressed her “great disappointment” that Lench had refused to let her and other ladies in. When Weinstein was sentenced, victim impact comments were not permitted because he was found guilty of assault. The conviction, however, she claimed, “was a success for all sexual assault victims.”

Allred is filing an appeal with the California Supreme Court against the judge’s ruling in the hopes that similar impact statements may be permitted during sentencings in the future.

Weinstein’s attorneys intend to challenge his California conviction like they did with his New York conviction.

SOURCE – (AP)