Harvey Weinstein is guilty! A jury comprising of 12 men and women has found former big-time Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein (who has more than 300 producing credits including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gangs of New York and a slew of Quentin Tarantino pictures) guilty on two of the five criminal charges he faced in his New York County trial, THR reports.
Weinstein was found guilty of criminal sexual assault in the first degree based on the testimony of former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley, and rape in the third degree, based on the testimony of Jessica Mann who at one time was an aspiring young actress.
Unfortunately, instead of going straight to prison where he belongs, Weinstein is currently being held at Bellevue Hospital prison Ward after his lawyers cited health issues. THR reported that Weinstein looked unstable and pale as he was escorted out of the courtroom.
Harvey Weinstein’s attorney Arthur Aidala had this to say:
[My client was] shocked but stoic at the same time. All he kept saying over and over again was, ‘I’m innocent. I’m innocent. How could this happen in America? I’m innocent. I’m innocent.’
“How could this happen in America” does tell you a lot, doesn’t it? For the longest time, influential people with enormous power have been able to get away with sexual misconduct and assault. For the longest time, people like Weinstein have used their position in Hollywood to rape or force young up-and-comers to engage in sexual activities with them, without facing any repercussions.
Harvey Weinstein is definitely going down now. Per THR, he’s currently facing five to 25 years for the criminal sexual assault conviction and 18 months to four years for the third-degree rape conviction. He will be sentenced on March 11.
