The judge in Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assault case has reminded the jury to "consider only the charges that are before [them]".
Weinstein is currently awaiting a jury verdict in his sexual assault trial in Manhattan – in which he is being tried for five counts pertaining to sexual assault, including two counts of predatory sexual assault, two counts of rape and one count of criminal sex act – and on Tuesday (18.02.20), the judge in the case sent a warning to the jury to stay focused on the charges in the case.
The jury began their deliberations on Tuesday, and just 45 minutes after they were first sequestered, they sent a note to Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Burke asking why one of the witnesses, Annabella Sciorra, is just part of a "predatory sex-assault" charge, or attack pattern, and not a stand-alone alleged victim.
Sciorra has accused Weinstein, 67, of raping her in the 1990s, but he is not being charged with rape in her case as the statute of limitations had already passed on the alleged crime.
Judge Burke told the jury: "You must consider only the charges that are before you."
The judge also provided the jury with the legal definitions of some elements of the charges against the producer, including "forcible compulsion" and "consent".
Whilst Weinstein is not being charged with rape in the case of Sciorra’s claims, he is on trial for the allegations made by both Miriam ‘Mimi’ Haleyi and Jessica Mann.
Haleyi alleges she was sexually assaulted in 2006, and Mann has accused Weinstein of raping her in 2013.
Meanwhile, shortly before the jury was sequestered, Judge Burke placed a gag order on Weinstein’s defence team, after his lead lawyer Donna Rotunno penned an op-ed piece – titled ‘Jurors in My Client Harvey Weinstein’s Case Must Look Past the Headlines’ – imploring the jury to acquit her client, which was published in Newsweek magazine over the weekend.
He told the defence: "Defence team, you’re ordered to refrain from communicating to the press until there is a verdict in the [case], and I’d caution you about the tentacles of your public relations juggernaut."
Burke was alerted to the piece following complaints from Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon – who is leading the case for the prosecution – who slammed the op-ed as "inappropriate" and called for Weinstein to be "reprimanded" as punishment.
She said: "In the op-ed piece, she actually speaks directly to the jury. It is completely 100 percent inappropriate behaviour. It borders on tampering with a jury … it was in direct violation of your direct orders.
"If this is the conduct allowed to persist in this courthouse, Judge, then we are all lost. Judge, there is no way that Miss Rotunno did this without the prompting and the encouragement and the knowledge and the permission of this defendant. It’s akin to jury tampering."
Harvey Weinstein judge reminds jury to focus on ‘charges before them’
