Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison Wednesday for sexual assault. His next stop is likely to be a maximum-security prison an hour north of the lower Manhattan courtroom in which his punishment will be pronounced.
Weinstein, who became an emblem of the #MeToo movement as waves of women accused him of harassing or attacking them over the years, was convicted last month of forcing oral sex on production assistant Miriam Haley and raping Jessica Mann, who wanted to be an actor.
The maximum total penalty was 29 years. Weinstein, 67, has asked New York State Supreme Court Justice James Burke for five, citing his age and failing health. Weinstein, who has been jailed since his conviction, arrived in court shortly after 9:30 a.m. in New York, handcuffed to his wheelchair. Court officers removed the cuffs as sentencing got underway.
Weinstein Compares #MeToo to McCarthy Era (10:58 a.m.)
Harvey Weinstein addressed the court in the final moments before sentencing, warning of a “crisis” in America that he compared with the McCarthy era.
“I’m worried about this country,” he began. “We are going through this crisis right now in our country, it started basically with me. I was the first example and now there are many men who have been accused of abuse, something I think that none of us understood.”
“It is not the right atmosphere for the United States of America,” he said. “Everybody is on some kind of blacklist. I had no power. Miramax was a small company. I couldn’t blackball anybody.”
“I think possibly men like myself, like Dalton Trumbo — they said they were Communists, and now there’s a scare, just like that now.”
Weinstein’s Lawyer Says He Didn’t Get a Fair Trial (10:52 a.m.)
Defense attorney Damon Cheronis called a letter prosecutors filed with the court Friday arguing for a harsh sentence “a laundry list of unsubstantiated allegations that have not been vetted” and said the judge shouldn’t consider those uncharged crimes in fashioning Weinstein’s sentence.
“I read the letter through the very same prism that you saw it through,” Burke told Cheronis.
Lead defense lawyer Donna Rotunno then argued that a report by probation officials includes errors and misstates testimony and asked Burke to disregard it.
Rotunno asked for the minimum sentence and said her client couldn’t get a fair trial because of various prejudices against him.
“Having every single thing you do and every move you make be scrutinized and dominated by the media, as you can hear by the clicking of the typewriters today in court,” was insurmountable, she said.
“Mr. Weinstein is a sick man,” she said, referring to a history of heart disease and other unspecified medical issues that were recently diagnosed.
“His parents taught him that you should give back,” she said. “If you look at the allegations in this courtroom, it’s a very small side of who he is. What you don’t see is the other side of what he’s done. He built careers, and because he built careers, everybody wanted a piece of him.”
Rotunno cited Weinstein’s five children, including two grown daughters and three young children.
She said allies of Weinstein wanted to come forward in support but were afraid to do so.
“They don’t feel they can do so because they can lose their jobs,” she said.
Weinstein Showed Contrition, Denial in 2017 (10:40 a.m.)
Yesterday the court released a trove of documents relate to the case, including two letters Weinstein sent to industry colleagues in late 2017, as the allegations against him were becoming public.
In an October 2017 letter, Weinstein expressed some contrition, calling himself “a flawed human being” and admitting he had been “inappropriate in many ways.” He expressed admiration for the then-nascent #MeToo movement, saying it was “teaching old dinosaurs like me the way” in terms of his interactions with women in the industry.
But he also sought to cast blame back, saying he had seen “actors and actresses take an almost predatory stance toward casting.” He also said “things have been wildly exaggerated” and decried the “vitriol” being expressed against him.
On Dec. 21, 2017, Weinstein struck a more despairing tone. “I have lost my family,” he wrote. “I have daughters that will not talk to me. I have lost my wife. I have lost the respect of my ex-wife and generally all of my friends. I have no company. I’m alone.”
He again tried to defend himself though, calling himself a “sex addict” and saying his conduct reflected changing social mores.
“There’s a difference between assault and womanizing,” Weinstein said. “There’s a difference between assault and cheating. Men my own age grew up in a different era. Now in a movement that has swept our country, things that were consensual 22 years ago have become non-consensual.”
Defense Lays Out Case for Leniency (10:31 a.m.)
Defense attorney Arthur Aidala told Burke the average sentence for the most serious crime Weinstein was convicted of, which carries a prison term of five to 25 years, is 8 1/2 years.
“We did our research and we did our homework, and what we came up with, that the top count that Mr. Weinstein is facing today, the New York state mean number is 8 1/2 years,” he said.
Aidala said other cases involved weapons.
“There’s no evidence of that here,” he said, adding that “it’s lower for people who are first-time offenders.” Aidala said last fall Burke sentenced another man, who had raped an underling, and pleaded guilty, to 7 1/2 years.
“Here there are less serious charges,” he said.
‘Harvey was the power over the powerless’ (10:12 a.m.)
Victims broke into tears as they addressed the judge.
“The day my uncontrollable screams were heard form the witness room was the day I got back my voice, the day I got back my power,” Mann told Burke. “That, your honor, is what the victim of a rapist looks like.”
Mann said “there is so much still left unsaid about his abuse” and pointed to “the wreckage Harvey Weinstein made of my life.” She asked the judge to recognize the trauma she has experienced, calling it “rape-induced paralysis.”
“Harvey had every advantage over me,” she said, citing his weight and strength. “Flight was not possible.”
Weinstein, in a blue suit, sat silently with his hands clasped in front of him.
“Harvey was the power over the powerless,” Mann said, adding that he went so far as to threaten her father “with an old-school Mafia beatdown.”
“My rape was preventable,” she said, noting the long history of abuse that prosecutors have detailed and saying Weinstein frequently paid off accusers and made them sign nondisclosure agreements.
Mann asked Burke to give Weinstein the maximum prison term, noting that a drunk driver can get five years.
“Harvey should be given a chance to be rehabilitated while he serves time for his crimes,” she said.
Prosecutor Asks Judge for the Maximum Sentence (10 a.m.)
Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi called for the maximum sentence and praised Weinstein’s accusers.
“Simply put, without these women and others willing to come forward, being 100% transparent and sacrificing their privacy and well-being, this matter would have never been undertaken and the defendant would never have been stopped,” she told the judge. “He led a life of crime, unchecked for decades.”
Haley, addressing the court, said Weinstein raped her.
“What he did not only stripped me of my dignity as a woman … it diminished my confidence and faith in people,” she said. “It was embarrassing and very hurtful that this person that I knew would do this to me. I am relieved to know he is no longer out there. I am relieved he will now know he is no longer above the law.”
But mostly, Haley said through tears, “the past couple of years have been excruciatingly difficult. I lived in fear and paranoia on a daily basis, fearing retaliation. I would have panic attacks and nightmares and I feared for my life.”
Will Weinstein Speak? (9:43 a.m.)
Before Burke hands down his sentence, Weinstein will have an opportunity to address the court. Will he? That remains to be seen. Weinstein may use the opportunity to apologize for his crimes, to plead for mercy or at least to thank the judge for his handling of the case. Or he may stay silent and let his lawyers do the talking for him.
The Calm Before the Storm (9:15 a.m.)
The scene outside the courthouse isn’t quite as chaotic as it was during the trial. There are about six satellite trucks and a dozen cameras right now, significantly fewer than in January and February. Concern over the coronavirus may be a factor. Some trains into Manhattan seemed less crowded than usual, and the streets downtown are noticeably less bustling.
Weinstein’s Accusers Stride Into the Courtroom (8:55 a.m.)
Weinstein’s six accusers from the trial strode into the courtroom just before 9 a.m. in a show of force, with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. following behind. The actor Annabella Sciorra, in a pair of wire-rimmed aviator glasses and a leather jacket, is seated directly next to Vance and is chatting with him. Beside them are Haley and then Tarale Wulff, Dawn Dunning and Lauren Young, the three witnesses prosecutors called to show a pattern of nonconsensual sex. Mann is at the end of the row. Weinstein’s accusers are all seated directly behind the prosecution table, where Assistant District Attorneys Joan Illuzzi and Meghan Hast are seated.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.
