A court has decided that the testimony of Gavin Newsom’s wife, who wrote Harvey Weinstein two years after Weinstein allegedly raped and sexually abused her, asking for guidance on how to handle the media will be admissible at Weinstein’s trial.
When Newsom was the mayor of San Francisco and dating Jennifer, the court gave the defense limited access to present evidence of the communication delivered to Weinstein in 2007.
However, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench barred the defense from addressing the main problem raised by the email, which was the admission of an affair Newsom had with a staff member in 2005.
Weinstein’s lawyer Mark Werksman vehemently pleaded for the inclusion of the specifics, but Judge Lench deemed it “too peripheral in relevance to this trial.”
Asking Harvey Weinstein for advice on how to handle a sex scandal is one of the things you’d imagine a woman who has been raped by him wouldn’t do, according to Werksman.
Marlene Martinez, a deputy district attorney, said, “I’m not sure how Mr. Werksman understands” how a rape victim would act.
They don’t respond the way a person who hasn’t been sexually assaulted would, according to Martinez.
He asserted that the court should permit that line of inquiry in order to protect Weinstein’s rights, saying, “When her lover, the mayor, seduces an underling’s wife and becomes scandalized over it, she stands with the mayor.”
By claiming Weinstein’s due process was in jeopardy, the attorney, according to the court, was exaggerating the issue.
Lench said, “Very theatrical, Mr. Werksman.”
Please pardon the dramatization, Werksman answered.
Weinstein is accused of raping Siebel Newsom and forcing oral sex on her at a Beverly Hills hotel in 2004 or 2005.
Her lawyer, Elizabeth Fegan, stated: “Like many other women, my client was victimized by Harvey Weinstein at a pretended business meeting that ended up being a trap.
In order to help survivors get some justice and as part of her life’s effort to better the lives of women, she plans to testify during his trial.
In a 2017 piece for The Huffington Post, Siebel Newsom claimed Weinstein had assaulted her.
She writes at the time, “I was ignorant, new to the business, and didn’t know how to cope with his pushy approaches.”
Weinstein is facing a total of 11 rape and sexual assault charges involving five women.
He already has a 23-year jail term after being found guilty of rape and sex assault in New York.
Gavin Newsom and actor/documentary maker Siebel Newsom started dating in 2006, and they were married in 2008. 2018 saw his election as governor.
The court also permitted the prosecution to play for the jury a covert recording of Weinstein that was made in 2015 by Ambra Battilana Gutierrez and the New York police. Gutierrez is a future witness in the case.
She said that at a prior encounter, Weinstein had caressed her thigh and grabbed her breasts, and Weinstein expressed regret for his behavior on the tape.
Police looked into the event, but no charges were filed by the prosecution, a decision that drew criticism in 2017 when a flood of claims against Weinstein sparked the #MeToo movement.
The court said, “It appears to me that it is acceptable to the degree that it represents an admission.”
After talking with the defense, all parties decided he should play the whole 43 minutes of the video, contrary to what deputy district attorney Paul Thompson had first suggested.
Italian model Gutierrez is one of four women who have been permitted to testify in the trial regarding Weinstein’s sexual misconduct, even though their claims are unrelated to those with which he is accused.
The Los Angeles Times was the first to reveal Siebel Newsom’s name, and according to her attorney, she is one of the women Weinstein is accused of sexually abusing who would testify during the trial.
The court and potential jurors began jury selection in the afternoon following a day and a half of debating motions on the evidence that would be heard during the trial, including one in which actor-director Mel Gibson was authorized as a prosecution witness.
During the process, Siebel Newsom was mentioned once more.
What if I told you that one of those witnesses would be the governor’s wife?
Alan Jackson, the Weinstein lawyer, questioned the jury panel. According to how she will be.
This was previously known to the judging panel according to the questionnaire they completed last week.
None of them said that their perception of the governor or his wife would have an impact on their decision-making.
When questioned by Thompson, at least five jurors said they were unaware of the #MeToo movement.
Those that had strong opinions about the movement had a variety of opinions.
One lady replied, “I believe in the feminine voice being vocal.”
One more lady expressed her lack of regard for individuals who, “after 10 years,” concluded that “well, this happened to me too.”
She said, “I suppose they’re searching for their 15 minutes of fame.”