NEW YORK CITY — Deliberations began Tuesday in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial as the jury weighs accusers’ testimony against the movie mogul’s contention that past sexual acts were consensual.
Twelve jurors are tasked with determining whether Weinstein, 67, is guilty of raping a woman in a Manhattan hotel in 2015 and sexually assaulting another woman in 2006.
The trial comes two years after dozens of sexual assault accusations against him launched the #MeToo movement. The top charge against Weinstein, predatory sexual assault, carries a maximum life sentence.
During the trial, prosecutors relied on testimony from several women — whose accounts are not included among charges — in hopes of proving Weinstein operated as a sexual predator.
Among those women was “Sopranos” actress Annabella Sciorra, who said she was raped by Weinstein in 1993 or 1994.
Defense lawyer Donna Rotunno argued in court — and in a Newsweek op-ed published over the weekend that prosecutors later argued crossed the line by attempting to influence the jury — that facts proved Weinstein’s innocence despite media coverage she characterized as unfair and prejudicial.
Rotunno recently came under fire for telling a New York Times journalist she had never been sexually assaulted, “Because I would never put myself in that position.”
The comment spurred sexual assault survivors to launch a #WhereIPutMyself hashtag on Twitter in protest of what they said was Rotunno’s victim-blaming.
Weinstein also faces a sex crimes indictment against him in Los Angeles.
Weinstein was first booked on rape charges in March 2018, about five months after the New York Times and New Yorker released ground-breaking reports detailing years of sexual misconduct accusations made by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
Since then, more than 80 women have come forward with similar stories.