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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Weinstein won't testify in rape trial; defense rests

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Weinstein won't testify in rape trial; defense rests
Weinstein won't testify in rape trial; defense rests

Former movie producer Harvey Weinstein will not testify in his own defense at his rape trial, his lawyers said on Tuesday as they rested their case.

Lisa Bernhard has more.

Former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein will not testify in his own defense at his rape trial, his lawyers said Tuesday as they rested their case.

When asked by the judge if it was true he would not take the stand, Weinstein answered, "That's correct." But outside the Manhattan courtroom, Weinstein told reporters he had wanted to testify.

(SOUND BITE) (English) REPORTER, SAYING: "Were you thinking about testifying?" (SOUND BITE) (English) DEFENDANT HARVEY WEINSTEIN, SAYING: "I wanted to." (SOUND BITE) (English) WEINSTEIN DEFENSE ATTORNEY, DAMON CHERONIS, SAYING: "He didn't have to." (SOUND BITE) (English) WEINSTEIN DEFENSE ATTORNEY OFF CAMERA, SAYING: "He didn't have to.

The case spoke for itself." His lawyers called the case against him, "anemic at best," and advised him to stay off the witness stand.

Weinstein pleaded not guilty to raping onetime aspiring actress Jessica Mann and sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi.

Earlier on Tuesday, Thomas Richards - a former agent and friend of Mann's - testified that he had breakfast with her and Weinstein after the alleged rape took place on a morning in 2013.

Richards said that the dynamic between Mann and Weinstein appeared, "friendly." Under cross-examination, Richards told an assistant district attorney he had been drinking the night before the breakfast and that his memory of the next day was not clear.

Prosecutors in the more than month-long trial rested their case last Thursday after jurors heard testimony from six women who've accused Weinstein of sexual assault, including Mann, Haleyi and actress Annabella Sciorra, who said Weinstein raped her in her home in the early 1990s.

Since 2017, more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.

The former movie producer, now 67, has denied ever having nonconsensual sex.

Closing arguments for the case begin Thursday.

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