Los Angeles
CNN
—
The judge overseeing Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault trial in Los Angeles dropped four of the 11 charges against him on Tuesday after prosecutors said that they do not intend to proceed with counts connected to one of the accusers.
The four dropped charges – two counts of forcible rape and two counts of forcible oral copulation – were based on accusations from a woman identified as Jane Doe 5. However, prosecutors did not mention her in opening statements when they stated that eight other women were expected to testify in the case against Weinstein.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to the remaining seven sexual assault charges, including two counts of rape and five counts of sexual assault dating from 2004 to 2013.
The trial resumed Tuesday with further cross-examination of Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. She testified Monday that Weinstein raped her in a hotel in 2005 when she was 31 years old, and she repeated that assertion during cross-examination.
“Sir, I was assaulted by him,” she told attorney Mark Werksman.
Werksman brought up her past testimony in which she described acquiescing to Weinstein that day and pushed her to define what that word means. Siebel Newsom became emotional and tried to talk but he interrupted her and asked if she was too tired to testify.
“What you’re doing today is exactly what he did to me,” she said.
On Monday, she testified Weinstein invited her to a hotel room to discuss potential film projects and then raped her. When asked why she remained in the hotel suite, she said, “Because you don’t say no to Harvey Weinstein. He could make or ruin your career. I thought I was going to discuss my projects.”
In opening statements, Werksman said Siebel Newsom had consensual sex with Weinstein because she wanted his help getting roles and producing films.
“She’s made herself a prominent victim in the #MeToo movement … otherwise she’d be just another bimbo who slept with Harvey Weinstein to get ahead in Hollywood,” Werksman said.
Siebel Newsom, a Stanford University graduate who has written, directed and produced several documentaries, is one of eight women expected to testify in the trial. Most of the women have testified under pseudonyms, but Siebel Newsom’s attorneys identified her as one of Weinstein’s victims.
The trial in California is his second such sexual assault case since reporting by The New York Times and The New Yorker in 2017 revealed Weinstein’s alleged history of sexual abuse, harassment and secret settlements as he used his influence as a Hollywood power broker to take advantage of young women.
Weinstein was found guilty in 2020 in New York of first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree rape and was sentenced to 23 years in prison. He has maintained his innocence, and New York’s highest court agreed in August to hear his appeal in the case.
