|
Throughout his adult life, Weinstein has shown
a "staggering lack of empathy, treating others with disdain and
inhumanity," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance's office
said in a letter to Justice James Burke, who is scheduled to
sentence Weinstein on Wednesday.
"He has consistently advanced his own sordid desires and
fixations over the well-being of others," prosecutors wrote. "He
has destroyed people's lives and livelihoods or threatened to do
so on whim."
Prosecutors did not recommend a specific sentence in the filing
for Weinstein, who faces a maximum sentence of 29 years in
prison.
Donna Rotunno, a lawyer for Weinstein, had no immediate comment.
On Feb. 24, a jury found the former movie mogul guilty of
sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in
2006 and of raping onetime aspiring actress Jessica Mann in
2013.
The jury of seven men and five women acquitted Weinstein on the
most serious charges, which carried a potential life sentence.
Those charges relied on testimony by actress Annabella Sciorra,
who said Weinstein raped her in the early 1990s.
In addition to Haleyi, Mann and Sciorra, prosecutors called
three more women to testify against Weinstein, portraying him as
a serial predator who had manipulated women with promises to
open doors in Hollywood, coaxing them to hotel rooms or private
apartments, and then overpowering and violently attacking them.
Throughout Weinstein's trial, the defense said regret drove his
accusers to reframe consensual encounters as crimes. Weinstein's
lawyers zeroed in on friendly messages and ongoing contact
between the women and Weinstein.
More than 80 women, including famous actresses, have accused
Weinstein of sexual misconduct stretching back decades, fueling
the #MeToo movement against sexual abuse and harassment. He
denied the accusations and said any sexual encounters were
consensual.
In Friday's filing, prosecutors listed more than a dozen
accusations going back to 1978, when they said he sexually
assaulted an employee of his Buffalo, New York-based music
company in a hotel room. The prosecutors argued Justice Burke
should consider the alleged incidents even though they were
never criminally charged.
They also accused Weinstein of verbally and physically abusive
behavior in the workplace dating back to the 1990s.
Weinstein is awaiting sentencing in New York's Rikers Island
jail, where he was moved Thursday after a 10-day hospital stay
following his conviction.
He still faces sexual assault charges in Los Angeles, which were
announced just hours after his New York trial began on Jan. 6.
Dozens of women have also filed civil lawsuits against him.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Noeleen
Walder and Jonathan Oatis)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
