Harvey Weinstein pleads as he’s given 16 additional years in prison – live

Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 16 years in prison, two months after a jury convicted him on rape and sexual assault charges in Los Angeles.

The hearing was scheduled to start at 9:30amPT/12:30pmET in front of Superior Court Judge Lisa B Lench.

Weinstein faced up to 18 years in prison following his conviction. His defense team had filed a motion to grant him a new trial, but Judge Lench moved to sentence him.

Jurors in the LA case convicted Weinstein in December of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault against an Italian model and actor during a 2013 film festival in the run-up to that year's Academy Awards.

The jury acquitted him of the sexual battery of a massage therapist and failed to reach verdicts on counts involving two other women.

Weinstein’s Los Angeles trial marked the second time the former Hollywood producer faced criminal prosecution for alleged sex crimes.

In early 2020, Weinstein was convicted of third-degree rape and a criminal sex act in New York. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison in the New York case, and was serving that sentence when he was extradicted to Los Angeles for his second trial.

The 16-year Los Angeles sentence comes in addition to the previous New York sentence.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

20:27 , Clemence Michallon

Weinstein directly appealed to Judge Lench during Thursday’s hearing. “I maintain that I'm innocent. I never raped or sexually assaulted Jane Doe 1,” he said according to The Associated Press, refering to the woman whose testimony led to his conviction.

The woman who Weinstein was convicted of raping sobbed in the courtroom as he spoke.

Moments earlier she had told the judge about the pain she felt after being attacked by Weinstein. “Before that night I was a very happy and confident woman. I valued myself and the relationship I had with God,” the woman, who was identified in court only as Jane Doe 1, said. “I was excited about my future. Everything changed after the defendant brutally assaulted me. There is no prison sentence long enough to undo the damage.”

(AP)

19:31 , Clemence Michallon

Harvey Weinstein has been sentenced to 16 years in prison in the Los Angeles case.

17:53 , Clemence Michallon

Eleven journalists are being allowed inside the courtroom for Weinstein’s hearing, according to journalist Meghann Cuniff, who also reports that at least one juror from the trial is in attendance.

17:20 , Clemence Michallon

Legal uncertainties will remain on both coasts for Weinstein, regardless of how today’s hearing goes, per The Associated Press.

New York’s highest court has agreed to hear his appeal in his rape and sexual assault convictions there. And prosecutors in Los Angeles have yet to say whether they will retry Weinstein on counts they were unable to reach a verdict on.

It is not yet clear where Weinstein will serve his time while these issues are decided.His New York sentence would be served before a California prison term, though a retrial or other issues could keep him from being sent back there soon.

Weinstein is eligible for parole in New York in 2039.

(AP)

16:50 , Clemence Michallon

Today’s hearing will take place at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, a courthouse in downtown Los Angeles.

Here are views of the building in September 2022, during earlier stages of Weinstein’s LA trial:

16:21 , Clemence Michallon

Per The Associated Press, Weinstein’s lawyers have argued that Judge Lench’s rejection of evidence they wanted to use at trial was prejudicial to him.The law gives Lench “the singular responsibility of setting right those prejudicial errors which often become apparent only with the benefit of hindsight,” the lawyers wrote in the motion.Lench has said she will move forward with the sentencing immediately if she rejects the defense motion.(AP)

16:20 , Clemence Michallon

On October 24th in a Los Angeles courtroom, Mark Werksman, Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer, was delivering his opening statement. The LA case marked the second time Weinstein faced prosecution; the first ended with his conviction, in early 2020, on charges of third-degree rape and a criminal sexual act.

“She’s made herself a prominent victim in the MeToo movement,” Werkman said. “Otherwise, she’d be just another bimbo who slept with Harvey Weinstein to get ahead in Hollywood.” He was talking about Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker whose husband is the current governor of California, Gavin Newsom, and one of four women whose allegations made up the charges against Weinstein. Without naming her, Werksman made it clear who he was referring to when he described her as a very prominent citizen of California.

Siebel Newsom’s attorney denounced the comments as “despicable, desperate” and “dishonest” to The Associated Press, adding: “The defense is callously engaging in misogynistic name-calling and victim-shaming.” Even by the acrimonious standards of the American courtroom, Werksman’s words seemed brazen: openly contemptuous of not only Siebel Newsom, but other women who have alleged Weinstein assaulted them.

In 2022, the unbearable cruelty of the American courtroom was laid bare. From Weinstein’s court cases to the federal appeal of former cult leader Keith Raniere to the controversial Peacock documentary about Casey Anthony, US jury trials have come under particular scrutiny — and justifiably.

From Weinstein to Casey Anthony: The unbearable cruelty of the American courtroom

15:37 , Clemence Michallon

Today’s hearing will begin with Weinstein’s defense team delivering arguments over a motion to have the verdict reduced, or to give Weinstein a new trial.

Also during the hearing, the victim whose testimony relates to the guilty counts against Weinstein will deliver a statement about the impact of Weinstein’s action on her.

Other women are not expected to speak at the hearing.

Judge Lench last week rejected a request from Gloria Allred, an attorney for some of the women who testified at trial, to allow others to make statements in court.

“I’m not going to make this an open forum on Mr Weinstein’s conduct,” Lench said, according to The Associated Press.

(AP)

15:05 , Clemence Michallon

Harvey Weinstein’s sentencing hearing will take place today at a downtown Los Angeles court.

He faces up to 18 years in prison after being convicted in December of one count of rape and two counts of sexual assault.

Judge Lisa B Lench could also grant a defense motion for a new trial.