The prosecution finished delivering its closing argument on Wednesday afternoon at Harvey Weinstein‘s sex crimes retrial in New York City.
“The defendant thought the rules did not apply to him. Now is the time to let him know the rules [do] apply to him,” district attorney Nicole Blumberg told the jury.
Blumberg summarized the testimonies of accusers Miriam Haley, Kaja Sokola and Jessica Mann — who, over the weeks-long trial, described their alleged sexual assaults by Weinstein.
“He underestimated their power and their strength,” Blumberg said of the accusers who came forward.
In the defense’s summation on Tuesday, Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala reiterated the argument that the accusers had lied — claiming that all of their sexual encounters with Weinstein were consensual and calling these relationships “transactional.”
Aidala described the three accusers as “women with broken dreams” who were angry at Weinstein for their lack of success in the entertainment industry. He also claimed they were motivated by money or fame to testify.
“If this guy wasn’t Harvey Weinstein, would we even be here?” Aidala said.
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Blumberg refuted the defense’s claim that the three women accused Weinstein of sexual assault to seek financial compensation or notoriety.
The prosecutor argued that they contacted Sokola, who did not testify at Weinstein’s 2020 trial, to take the stand — not the other way around. She also highlighted what happened to Haley and Mann after their testimony in that trial: Haley changed the spelling of her last name, while Mann did not speak to the media for over a year after the original New York trial ended.
“Only in a rape trial,” Blumberg said, “it actually feels like you’re the person on trial.”
Blumberg added, “Who puts themselves through that unless they’re telling the truth?”
Weinstein is charged with two counts of committing a “criminal sexual act” in the first degree and one count of third-degree rape, following accusations by Haley, Sokola and Mann. In his 2020 trial, the disgraced movie mogul had been found guilty of sexually abusing former aspiring actor Mann and former TV production assistant Haley — but those convictions were overturned in 2024. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all counts in his retrial.
The jury, consisting of seven women and five men, is set to begin deliberations on Thursday.
From Variety US