(CNN) Jury deliberations in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial started in a New York courtroom Tuesday. The jury of seven men and five women will decide the disgraced movie mogul’s fate.
Weinstein, , was charged with first-degree criminal sexual act, two counts of rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault. The charges are based on Miriam Haley’s testimony that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in and Jessica Mann’s testimony that he raped her in 2013 during what she described as an abusive relationship.
Some of the charges are structured as either / or counts, so Weinstein can only be convicted of two charges at most – one based on Mann’s allegations and one based on Haley’s.
Four other women , including actress Annabella Sciorra, also testified that Weinstein sexually attacked them as Prosors sought to show that he used his power in the movie industry to prey on young, inexperienced women.
- Sciorra’s testimony that he raped her in the winter of 2006 – is outside of the statu te of limitations, but it can be used to support the predatory sexual assault charges, which requires serious sex crimes against at least two victims. Predatory sexual assault is punishable by up to life in prison.
However,
- Weinstein’s defense attorneys argued that the sexual encounters were consensual. As evidence, they pointed out that both Haley and Mann had sex with Weinstein after the alleged attacks, and they continued to have friendly contact with him for years afterward. He has also denied allegations of non-consensual sexual activity related to the other women.
The women’s testimonies highlighted thorny questions around consent and power dynamics at the heart of the #MeToo movement – questions that have rarely , if ever, been tested in a courtroom.
The jury deliberating in the case sent a lengthy note about minutes after they started deliberations. The note asked the court for legal definitions of many of the terms in the charges, why the statute of limitations has not run for certain crimes, and questions that indicated they did not understand how the verdict was structured.
Prior to deliberations on Tuesday, the judge overseeing Weinstein’s trial ordered that his defense refrain from communicating with the public or press until there is a verdict in the case. The order came after the prosecution said that a Newsweek op-ed written by Weinstein’s lead attorney Donna Rotunno was improper and a violation of court rules.
Judge James Burke cautioned the team about what he called the “tentacles” of their “public relations juggernaut.”
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Once an acclaimed producer of movies such as “Shakespeare in Love” and “Pulp Fiction,” Weinstein was accused by multiple women of a wide range of sexual misconduct in stories published in October in the New York Times and The New Yorker. A wave of similar claims against other influential men for allegedly abusing their power ensued in what is now known as the #MeToo movement.
Weinstein also faces charges of
sexual assault and rape in separate incidents in Los Angeles.
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