A key witness glared at Harvey Weinstein and pointed a sharp finger at him as he left the courtroom in tears, in one of the most dramatic moments in the sex-crimes retrial of the former studio executive.
The confrontation came after Jessica Mann described how Weinstein grabbed, dragged, forcibly stripped and raped her in a Beverly Hills, California, hotel room in early 2014 after she told him she was seeing another man.
“You owe me again,” Weinstein shouted, according to Ms. Mann, who wiped away tears and breathed heavily as she testified.
Weinstein, who denies any allegations of rape or sexual assault, briefly shook his head as he watched from his courtroom seat.
As Ms. Mann finished her story, she continued to cry and did not respond to the prosecutor's question about whether she needed a break. Judge Curtis Farber called a recess.
As Ms. Mann walked past the defense table on her way out, she turned to Weinstein, pointed at her eyes and then at him.
It is unclear how many jurors witnessed the gesture, and Ms. Mann did not respond to questions outside court about what she meant.
After they left, Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, filed the last of more than half a dozen motions for mistrial. He cited Ms. Mann’s gesture, expressed doubts about her emotional state and complained that she should not have been asked about the alleged rape in Los Angeles, since Weinstein is not actually accused of it.
The Oscar-winning producer is accused of raping Ms Mann in 2013 in New York and of forcing oral sex on two other women separately in 2006. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Mr. Farber rejected the motion for improper trial. He ruled that Ms. Mann and the two other women could view the allegations in the context of their other interactions with Weinstein, including other instances in which he allegedly made unwanted advances.
As for Ms. Mann's gesture, “I can't control the behavior of people in the courtroom” and how the jury will perceive it, Mr. Farber said, suggesting that Ms. Mann should be asked to refrain from such actions.
The judge noted that he also noticed Weinstein was clearly reacting and sometimes
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
