NEW YORK — The closing arguments will resume Wednesday in the retrial of disgraced music executive Harvey Weinstein, leaving his fate up to the jury.
Weinstein, 73, decided not to testify.
He’s charged with assaulting three women more than a decade ago.
The Manhattans District Attorney’s office over the past weeks has called two dozen witnesses over the duration of the trial to testify in the case.
The defense and prosecution adopted contrasting tones in their closing statements, expected to conclude on Wednesday. Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, mixed humor and drama—occasionally reenacting witness actions—to argue that Weinstein’s actions were part of a “courting game,” not criminal acts. In contrast, Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg was straightforward, urging jurors to concentrate on the accusers and their exhaustive testimony.
“This was not a ‘courting game,’ as Mr. Aidala suggests. This was not a ‘transaction,'” she told the jurors. “This was never about ‘fooling around.’ It was about rape.”
Weinstein had his original 2020 conviction overturned after an appeal was filed by his legal team.
The sex crimes trial put a spotlight on alleged forcible sex acts from as far back as 2006 on two women, and the rape of Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.
Prosecutors say he used his power, dangling career advancement persuading the women into rooms where he overpowered and sexually assaulted them.
Weinstein’s lawyers argued his accusers enjoyed a “mutually beneficial relationship.”
Weinstein has denied all allegations and pled not guilty to the charges he faces.
The movie star remains in prison as he was also convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape.
(Some information from the Associated Press)
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