Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers question his accuser at his rape retrial
NEW YORK– NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers questioned his accuser Thursday at his rape retrial, making clear they plan to explore her conflicted feelings and complex history with the former Hollywood power broker.
This is the third time that Jessica Mann has had to answer questions from her lawyers in a New York court. But various lawyers are now defending the former boss of the studio whose fall fueled the #MeToo movement against sexual abuse. It remains to be seen whether their investigations will reach the emotional boiling points of Mann’s previous cross-examinations.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Teny Geragos, began questioning Mann on Wednesday by tapping into his complicated feelings about Weinstein during a rocky relationship that involved consensual sexual encounters.
During questioning by prosecutors earlier, Mann said that despite the alleged rape, she loved “a part of him” because he could be kind and encouraging about her personal struggles and professional dreams, and that the two had experienced “some pretty human moments” together.
“What did he do for you that made parts of you truly love him?” » asked Geragos.
“It was validation,” Mann said.
When Geragos then asked about “human moments,” Mann said she once slapped Weinstein, thinking he was inviting her into a sex game, but that he later told her, “Jess, that’s not you.”
“So when you were talking about the validation you received…and the human moments you shared with Harvey, did you slap him?” » asked Geragos.
Mann said she was instead referring to his remark that “it’s not you.”
The hearing ended shortly thereafter.
Weinstein, 73, is on trial for the third time on charges of raping Mann in a New York hotel in 2013. He was initially convicted in 2020, but an appeals court overturned that verdict. At his first retrial, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the rape charge.
Mann also alleges that Weinstein raped her again in Beverly Hills, California, in late 2013 or early 2014. He was never charged with a crime related to this allegation.
“He just treated me like I belonged to him,” she told jurors this week.
Mann, 40, acknowledges she sometimes accepted his sexual advances, but said both rapes happened while she was protesting and begged him to stop.
Weinstein’s lawyers argue that everything that happened between the two was consensual and part of a supportive and caring relationship. They say Mann, who was a hairstylist and actress aspiring to make it in show business when she met Weinstein, took advantage of her association with an Oscar-winning producer, later accusing him amid the #MeToo outcry of 2017 and 2018.
The Associated Press does not identify people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they agree to be named, as Mann did.
