The allegation, and the unnamed woman’s response to it, both are detailed in paperwork filed Monday in Los Angeles County, where the prosecutor announcedfour new felony sexual assault chargesinvolving two alleged victims on the same day Weinstein went to trial in New York on unrelated sexual assault claims.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to the New York charges. Juda Engelmayer, a spokesman for Weinstein, did not immediately respond to a request from PEOPLE for a comment to the California charges.
“We believe the evidence will show that the defendant used his power and influence to gain access to his victims and then commit violent crimes against them,” District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in astatement announcing the charges. “I want to commend the victims who have come forward and bravely recounted what happened to them. It is my hope that all victims of sexual violence find strength and healing as they move forward.”
Harvey Weinstein.Scott Heins/Getty
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The document continues: “Jane Doe 1 alleges that she delayed disclosure of this assault, in part, because the defendant threatened her life if she disclosed.”
On February 19, 2013, the second woman, identified as “Jane Doe 2,” agreed to attend a business meeting with Weinstein at a west Los Angeles hotel, where they spoke briefly in a common area before Weinstein allegedly “convinced” the woman and her female acquaintance to accompany him to his hotel suite, prosecutors allege.
Doe 2 “unwittingly followed him into the hotel bathroom,” according to the document, and after her acquaintance shut the door behind her, “Jane Doe 2 was unable to open the door,” alleges the document.
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If convicted of those charges in California, Weinstein could face up to 28 years in state prison. Prosectors have requested that bail be set at $5 million, after arguing that Weinstein’s financial resources make him a flight risk.
But almost none of the more than 80 women to have come forward about Weinstein’s alleged behavior will take the stand in the Manhattan courtroom. Instead, the charges against him there — two counts of rape, one count of criminal sexual act and two counts of predatory sexual assault — are based on the accusations of only two women, according toThe Washington Post.
Nicholas Hunt/Getty; Alexander Koerner/Getty
And ahead of the New York trial, 25 women — not including those whose accusations will be heard at that trial — issued a statement Friday saying the trial is “critical to show that predatorseverywherewill be held accountable,” reports thePost.
“Thanks to the courage of so many women who risked everything to come forward — this ugly facade came down and [Weinstein] finally faced a public and professional reckoning for his actions,” said the statement.
Weinstein faces life in prison if convicted on all charges in New York.
source: people.com
