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 Deliberations were expected to begin on Tuesday in the case of
Weinstein, 67, who pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting
former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping Jessica Mann,
a onetime aspiring actress.
During the six-week trial, the three other women - costume
designer Dawn Dunning, model Tarale Wulff and actress Lauren
Young - testified they were enticed into meeting Weinstein for
professional reasons and then groped or raped.
They testified about encounters separate from the crimes
Weinstein was accused of committing.
Prosecutors called the women as witnesses to try to establish
Weinstein's motive and a signature pattern of behavior that
legal experts described as potentially powerful evidence that
might bolster the claims of Haleyi and Mann.
“The volume and number of witnesses like that make it really
difficult for the defense to prevail,” said Daniel Hochheiser, a
New York criminal defense lawyer and former Bronx prosecutor.
New York law customarily prevents prosecutors from presenting
testimony of "prior bad acts," as it is generally considered
prejudicial to a defendant.
"You can't admit bad acts to show that this is the kind of
person who does this a lot, and so probably did it on this
occasion," said Deborah Tuerkheimer, a former Manhattan
prosecutor who is now a professor at Northwestern Law.
'SIGNATURE' PATTERN
An exception to the law allowed prosecutors to call Dunning,
Wulff and Young to show Weinstein "had a particular intention"
or exhibited a "signature" pattern of behavior when he invited
women to meet and discuss professional opportunities.
Under New York state law, such witnesses are known as "Molineux"
witnesses.
A lawyer for Weinstein, Arthur Aidala, said it was
"extraordinary to have three Molineux witnesses testify when
there are only two complaining witnesses."
"It is often difficult for prosecutors to convince a judge to
allow one Molineux witness," he said in an email.
Dunning testified that the producer groped her in 2004 and
offered her movie roles in exchange for three-way sex with him
and his assistant, which she refused.
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Young, a model and actress, testified that the film producer trapped
her in a hotel bathroom in 2013, masturbated in front of her while
groping her breasts, and told her: “This is what all the actresses
do to make it.”
On cross-examination, the defense challenged the women's
credibility. In Dunning's case, Weinstein's lawyers pressed her
about her decision to meet with Weinstein weeks after the alleged
assault and the fact that she did not tell anyone about the
encounter until years later.
But the sexual assault trial of comedian Bill Cosby suggests that
the impact of prior bad acts testimony can be tough for the defense
to overcome.
Pennsylvania prosecutors charged Cosby in December 2016 with a 2004
assault of Andrea Constand, a former Temple University
administrator.
About 50 women accused Cosby, now 82, of sexual assaults going back
decades. Cosby denied the accusations, insisting all the encounters
were consensual.
A first trial, with evidence from one "prior bad acts" witness,
ended with a deadlocked jury. A second trial included testimony from
five other women who accused Cosby of drugging and sexual assault,
even though some events occurred decades earlier and had no
connection to Constand.
A jury convicted Cosby in 2018, and he was sentenced to up to 10
years in prison. In January, Cosby asked Pennsylvania's highest
court to overturn the conviction.
Cosby's lawyers said in court papers that in the #MeToo era, "one
cannot imagine more prejudicial testimony" than a parade of women
testifying about sexual misconduct, which his lawyers said had no
connection to the crime.
"This also left him in the position of having six trials in one,"
they said.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware, and Brendan Pierson
in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)
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