Weinstein, already in jail, to face further sex assault charges at Los Angeles trial

Disgraced movie mogul, already serving 23-year term, faces charges in the city whose main industry he dominated; if convicted, could be sentenced to another 140 years behind bars

By Andrew MARSZAL 10 October 2022, 8:29 am

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Harvey Weinstein arrives at a Manhattan court as jury deliberations continue in his rape trial, on February 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein goes on trial in Los Angeles on Monday, where he faces charges in the city whose main industry he dominated for decades.

The 70-year-old “Pulp Fiction” producer is already serving 23 years in jail in New York after being convicted there of a series of sex crimes.

He now faces 11 more charges including sexual battery by restraint, forcible rape and forcible oral copulation against women in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles hotels between 2004 and 2013, in a trial expected to last two months.

If convicted, Weinstein — who has pleaded not guilty to all counts — could be sentenced to 140 additional years behind bars.

Jury selection was set to begin Monday in a downtown Los Angeles court.

Widespread sexual abuse and harassment allegations against Weinstein exploded in October 2017, and his conviction in New York in 2020 was a landmark in the #MeToo movement.

In this file photo taken on February 28, 2016, Harvey Weinstein arrives on the red carpet for the 88th Oscars in Hollywood, California (Jean-Baptiste Lacroix/AFP)

In June, he lost a bid to have that sex crimes conviction overturned. He has also been separately charged by British prosecutors with the 1996 indecent assault of a woman in London.

In total, nearly 90 women — including Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and Salma Hayek — have accused Weinstein of harassment or assault.

He says that all his sexual encounters were consensual, and his lawyer told reporters that the Los Angeles accusations “stem from many years ago” and cannot “be substantiated or corroborated by any forensic evidence” or “credible witnesses.”

The New York Film Festival this week will premiere “She Said,” a film about the 2017 newspaper investigation into Weinstein that sparked the demise of his movie empire.

Before the allegations against him emerged, the producer and his brother Bob were Hollywood’s ultimate power players.

They co-founded Miramax Films, a distribution company named after their mother Miriam and father Max, in 1979. It was sold to Disney in 1993.

Their hits included 1998’s “Shakespeare in Love,” for which Weinstein shared a best picture Oscar. Over the years, Weinstein’s films received more than 300 Oscar nominations and 81 statuettes.