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Tag: Sexual misconduct

  • Delivery driver charged with the murder of a 7-year-old in Texas faces 3 unrelated sexual assault charges dating back to 2013 | CNN

    Delivery driver charged with the murder of a 7-year-old in Texas faces 3 unrelated sexual assault charges dating back to 2013 | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The new sexual assault charges filed against the delivery driver suspected of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Athena Strand in Texas earlier this month date back to three separate incidents in 2013, charging documents show.

    An investigation by the Fort Worth Police Department determined Tanner Lynn Horner allegedly sexually assaulted children under the age of 17 on three separate occasions in June, August, and December of 2013, according to charging documents filed Wednesday.

    The minor victims were not identified. The charges came out of Tarrant County, records show.

    Horner was arrested earlier this month on capital murder and aggravated kidnapping charges after authorities say he told them he accidentally hit Athena with his vehicle while making a delivery to her home on November 30. Horner allegedly told investigators he put the girl in his van and strangled her because he was scared she would tell someone she was hit by a FedEx truck, according to two arrest warrants obtained by CNN affiliate KTVT.

    Horner, who was already being held on a $1.5 million bond in Wise County jail, now has additional $15,000 surety bonds set against him on each of the three sexual assault charges out of Tarrant County. His initial court appearance is set for January 5, 2023, Tarrant County court records show.

    Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin told CNN the 2013 charges “happened back some time ago” and were separate from the Strand case. Some people have come forward in relation to the 2013 charges following Horner’s arrest, Akin said.

    CNN was not able to determine if Horner has an attorney.

    Strand’s family filed a lawsuit against FedEx and one of its subcontractors this month, accusing them of gross negligence and accusing Horner of assault. The family is seeking more than $1 million in damages from the companies and Horner, according to the suit.

    Horner delivered packages for FedEx Ground but was employed through a subcontractor, Big Topspin, Inc., according to the lawsuit.

    In response to the lawsuit, FedEx said in a statement, “Our thoughts remain with the family of Athena Strand in the wake of this tragedy. We are aware of the complaint filed against FedEx Ground.”

    CNN has previously attempted to reach Big Topspin, Inc. for comment.

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  • After convicting Harvey Weinstein of rape, a Los Angeles jury deadlocks on factors that could have increased his sentence | CNN

    After convicting Harvey Weinstein of rape, a Los Angeles jury deadlocks on factors that could have increased his sentence | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    After convicting former film producer Harvey Weinstein of rape and sexual assault, a Los Angeles jury could not reach a unanimous verdict Tuesday on alleged aggravating factors that could have increased his sentence.

    The three charges Weinstein was convicted of – rape, sexual penetration by foreign object and forcible oral copulation – were all tied to one of his accusers, Jane Doe 1, a model and actress who testified the movie mogul assaulted her in a Beverly Hills hotel room in February 2013.

    Jurors were asked to determine if Jane Doe 1 was harmed and particularly vulnerable, and if Weinstein committed the crimes with planning, professionalism, or sophistication.

    Ten members of the jury found the aggravating factors had been met, but two jurors could not be swayed, one of the jurors told CNN.

    “The jury has said they are not able to reach a unanimous verdict on these issues,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench said, according to a pool report. “I am going to declare a mistrial with respect to the allegations.”

    Had the jury found Weinstein guilty of the aggravating factors, a new California law would have then allowed the judge to enact a harsher sentence.

    Jurors had deliberated for several hours Tuesday. After the jury indicated further deliberations would not sway them, neither the prosecution or the defense pushed to have the jurors deliberate further.

    When Lench asked prosecutor Paul Thompson if Weinstein will be retried on the deadlock counts, the pool report said he responded: “We need to consult the victims first and foremost.”

    Weinstein’s sentencing was tentatively set for January 9, with Lench allowing only Jane Doe 1 to offer a victim impact statement. He is expected to serve 18 years.

    The disgraced movie mogul was found guilty Monday of three of seven charges against him in his second sexual assault trial. The jury acquitted Weinstein of one count of sexual battery by restraint against a massage therapist in a hotel room in 2010. They were a hung jury on one count of sexual battery by restraint, one count of forcible oral copulation and one count of rape related to two other women – including Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and first partner to California Governor Gavin Newsom.

    Weinstein had pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. His spokesman said he was “disappointed” with the outcome of the trial but “he is prepared to continue fighting for his innocence.”

    The verdict was reached as jurors entered their third week of deliberations, meeting for a total of 41 hours over a period of 10 days following weeks of oftentimes emotional testimony.

    “Harvey Weinstein forever destroyed a part of me that night in 2013. I will never get that back,” said Jane Doe 1 in a statement released through her attorney. “The criminal trial was brutal. Weinstein’s lawyers put me through hell on the witness stand. But I knew I had to see this through the end, and I did … I hope Harvey Weinstein never sees the outside of a prison cell during his lifetime.”

    Elizabeth Fegan, an attorney representing Siebel Newsom, who was identified in court as Jane Doe 4, said they were disappointed the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on the charges related to her client.

    “My client, Jane Doe 4, shared her story not with an expectation to testify but to support all the survivors who bravely came forward,” Fegan said in a statement to CNN. “While we are heartened that the jury found Weinstein guilty on some of the counts, we are disappointed that the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on Jane Doe 4. She will continue to fight for all women and all survivors of abuse against a system that permits the victim to be shamed and re-traumatized in the name of justice.”

    Weinstein is two years into a 23-year sentence for a 2020 New York conviction, which his attorneys have appealed, putting more attention on the outcome of the trial in Los Angeles.

    The weekslong Los Angeles trial saw emotional testimony from Weinstein’s accusers – a model, a dancer, a massage therapist and Siebel Newsom – all of whom were asked to recount the details of their allegations against him, provide details of meetings with the producer from years ago, and explain their reactions to the alleged assaults.

    Additionally, four women testified they were subjected to similar behavior by Weinstein in other jurisdictions.

    Weinstein initially faced 11 charges, but four counts connected to an unnamed woman were dropped without explanation. She did not testify in the trial.

    In closing arguments, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez called Weinstein a “titan” who used his power in Hollywood to prey on and silence women.

    Meanwhile, Weinstein’s attorneys maintained the allegations are either fabricated or occurred consensually as part of a “transactional relationship” with the movie producer, repeatedly saying there is no evidence of assault.

    Defense attorney Alan Jackson called the accusers “fame and fortune seekers.”

    Jane Doe 2, who was identified as Lauren Young, told her attorney Gloria Allred by phone that she was happy Weinstein was convicted on some counts despite there being a mistrial on her count, Allred said in a news conference after the verdict.

    “I am relieved that Harvey Weinstein has been convicted because he deserves to be punished for the crimes that he committed, and he can no longer use his power to intimidate and sexually assault more women,” Young said in a statement read by Allred.

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  • Harvey Weinstein dodges sentencing enhancement, faces 18 years

    Harvey Weinstein dodges sentencing enhancement, faces 18 years

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    Harvey Weinstein faces a shorter prison sentence in California after a Los Angeles jury failed to reach a verdict on whether the disgraced mogul planned his attack on a woman he was convicted of raping.

    Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Lench declared a mistrial on the issue Tuesday after the panel reported it could not agree on special allegations that Weinstein planned his assault on a model-actor in 2013, and whether she was “particularly vulnerable.”

    If the jury had found that either circumstance applied, Weinstein would have faced an enhanced maximum term of 24 years when he is sentenced next year. Tuesday’s development means Weinstein, who was convicted of rape and sexual assault charges a day earlier, will face up to 18 years in prison.

    Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence after being convicted of rape and sexual assault in New York in 2020. He is appealing that sentence, as he will likely do with the California verdict. 

    Weinstein was charged with raping or sexually assaulting four women, but after a monthlong trial, was only convicted of charges based on one woman’s allegations. Jurors acquitted Weinstein of charges based on another woman’s account, and were unable to reach a verdict on two other women’s allegations.

    Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, was one of the women whose charges the jury could not reach a verdict on. She testified that he had raped her in a hotel room in 2005. On Monday, she released a statement addressing the verdict. 

    “Harvey Weinstein will never be able to rape another woman. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars where he belongs. Harvey Weinstein is a serial predator and what he did was rape,” Siebel Newsom said. “Throughout the trial, Weinstein’s lawyers used sexism, misogyny, and bullying tactics to intimidate, demean, and ridicule us survivors. This trial was a stark reminder that we as a society have work to do. To all survivors out there – I see you, I hear you, and I stand with you.” 

    The panel was brought back Tuesday to hear arguments on the special circumstances allegation. Lench will hold a hearing Jan. 9 to determine the next steps in the case.

    Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, one of Weinstein’s first accusers, and one of several women who testified in his L.a. trial, told “CBS Mornings” Tuesday that she felt “relief” after the verdict was announced. 

    “I just am happy that people believe me right now. People believe me and other victims,” said Gutierrez, who worked with the New York Police Department in 2015 to obtain evidence against Weinstein. However, Weinstein avoided charges at the time. 

    Testifying against him in L.A., Gutierrez said, gave her a “feeling of being powerful again.” 

    “It felt unbelievable when I was there on the stand, looking at him,” she said. 

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  • Harvey Weinstein is convicted of 3 of 7 charges, including rape, in his Los Angeles sexual assault trial | CNN

    Harvey Weinstein is convicted of 3 of 7 charges, including rape, in his Los Angeles sexual assault trial | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was found guilty Monday of rape and sexual assault against one of four women he was accused of assaulting in Los Angeles – a significant conviction in the second trial of a man at the center of allegations that fueled the global #MeToo movement.

    Weinstein, who prosecutors said used his Hollywood influence to lure women into private meetings and assault them, was found guilty of three of seven charges against him.

    After weeks of emotional testimony and 10 days of deliberations, jurors in Los Angeles also acquitted Weinstein of one count of sexual battery by restraint against a massage therapist in a hotel room in 2010. They were a hung jury on one count of sexual battery by restraint, one count of forcible oral copulation and one count of rape related to two other women – including Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and first partner to California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

    The three charges Weinstein was convicted of – rape, sexual penetration by foreign object and forcible oral copulation – were all tied to one of his accusers, a model and actress who testified the movie mogul assaulted her in a Beverly Hills hotel room in February 2013.

    The woman, identified as Jane Doe 1 in court, was the first to testify in the trial.

    “Harvey Weinstein forever destroyed a part of me that night in 2013. I will never get that back. The criminal trial was brutal. Weinstein’s lawyers put me through hell on the witness stand. But I knew I had to see this through the end, and I did… I hope Harvey Weinstein never sees the outside of a prison cell during his lifetime,” Jane Doe 1 said in a statement released through her attorney.

    Weinstein had pleaded not guilty to all seven charges against him.

    “Harvey is obviously disappointed, however hopefully because with this particular accuser there are good ground to appeal based on time and location of alleged events,” Weinstein’s spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said in a statement. “He is grateful the jury took their time to deliberate on the other counts and he is prepared to continue fighting for his innocence.”

    Weinstein faces a possible sentence of 24 years in prison for the Los Angeles conviction, according to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. The once-powerful film producer is already serving a 23-year sentence for a 2020 New York rape conviction.

    Jurors will return to court Tuesday to consider aggravating factors to help determine the outcome of Weinstein’s sentencing hearing, according to the DA’s office.

    The District Attorney’s office will meet to determine whether to retry the counts on which the jury could not agree, officials said.

    Elizabeth Fegan, an attorney representing Siebel Newsom, who was identified in court as Jane Doe 4, said they were disappointed the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on the charges related to her client.

    “Harvey Weinstein will never be able to rape another woman. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars where he belongs. Harvey Weinstein is a serial predator and what he did was rape,” Siebel Newsom said in a statement. “Throughout the trial, Weinstein’s lawyers used sexism, misogyny, and bullying tactics to intimidate, demean, and ridicule us survivors. This trial was a stark reminder that we as a society have work to do. To all survivors out there – I see you, I hear you, and I stand with you.”

    Gov. Newsom also released a statement, saying, “I am so incredibly proud of my wife and all the brave women who came forward to share their truth and uplift countless survivors who cannot. Their strength, courage and conviction is a powerful example and inspiration to all of us. We must keep fighting to ensure that survivors are supported and that their voices are heard.”

    The Los Angeles jury reached its verdict after deliberating for a total of 41 hours – longer than the New York jury in Weinstein’s first criminal trial, in which he was convicted of criminal sex act and third-degree rape after 26 hours of deliberations. His attorneys have appealed that conviction, which put more attention on the outcome of the trial in Los Angeles.

    Jane Doe 2, who was identified as Lauren Young, told her attorney Gloria Allred by phone she was happy Weinstein was convicted on some counts despite there being a mistrial on her count, Allred said in a news conference after the verdict.

    “I am relieved that Harvey Weinstein has been convicted because he deserves to be punished for the crimes that he committed, and he can no longer use his power to intimidate and sexually assault more women,” Young said in a statement read by Allred.

    The weekslong trial saw emotional testimony from Weinstein’s accusers – a model, a dancer, a massage therapist and Siebel Newsom – all of whom were asked to recount the details of their allegations against him, provide details of meetings with the producer from years ago, and explain their reactions to the alleged assaults.

    Weinstein initially faced 11 charges, but four counts connected to an unnamed woman were dropped without explanation. She did not testify in the trial.

    In closing arguments, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez called Weinstein a “titan” who used his power in Hollywood to prey on and silence women.

    “Rapists rape. You can look at the pattern,” fellow prosecutor Paul Thompson told jurors.

    Meanwhile, Weinstein’s attorneys maintained the allegations were either fabricated or occurred consensually as part of a “transactional relationship” with the movie producer, repeatedly saying there is no evidence of assault.

    Defense attorney Alan Jackson called the accusers “fame and fortune seekers.”

    The trial in Los Angeles also included testimony from other witnesses, including experts, law enforcement, friends of accusers and former aides to Weinstein.

    Additionally, four women testified they were subjected to similar behavior by Weinstein in other jurisdictions.

    Each morning at trial, Weinstein was brought from a correctional facility and wheeled into the Los Angeles courtroom wearing a suit and tie and holding a composition notebook.

    His accusers all began their oftentimes emotional testimonies by identifying him in the courtroom as he looked on.

    “He’s wearing a suit, and a blue tie and he’s staring at me,” Siebel Newsom said last month, before what was one of the most emotional moments of the trial. She testified Weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2005.

    During the trial, defense attorney Jackson asked jurors if they could “accept what (the Jane Does) say as gospel,” arguing what they said was a lack of forensic evidence supporting their claim.

    “Five words that sum up the entirety of the prosecution’s case: ‘Take my word for it,’” Jackson said. “‘Take my word for it that he showed up at my hotel room unannounced. Take my word for it that I showed up at his hotel room. Take my word for it that I didn’t consent. Take my word for it, that I said no.’ “

    Siebel Newsom described an hourslong “cat-and-mouse period,” which preceded her alleged assault. She, like other accusers, described feeling “frozen” that day.

    Attorneys for Weinstein do not deny the incident occurred, but said he believed it was consensual.

    Jackson called the incident “consensual, transactional sex,” adding: “Regret is not the same thing as rape. And it’s important we make that distinction in this courtroom.”

    In her closing arguments, Martinez highlighted the women who testified chose to do so despite knowing they would face tough conditions in court.

    “The truth is that, as you sit here, we know the despicable behavior the defendant engaged in. He thought he was so powerful that people would … excuse his behavior,” Martinez said. “That’s just Harvey being Harvey. That’s just Hollywood. And for so long that’s what everyone did. Everyone just turned their heads.”

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  • Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape in Los Angeles trial

    Harvey Weinstein found guilty of rape in Los Angeles trial

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    LOS ANGELES — After a month-long trial and nine days of deliberations, Los Angeles jurors on Monday found Harvey Weinstein guilty of the rape and sexual assault of just one of the four accusers he was charged with abusing.

    But the three guilty counts involving an Italian actor and model known at the trial as Jane Doe 1 still struck a major blow against the disgraced movie mogul, and provided another #MeToo moment of reckoning, five years after he became a magnet for the movement.

    Weinstein, 70, who is two years into a 23-year sentence for a rape and sexual assault conviction in New York that is under appeal, could get up to 24 years in prison in California when he’s sentenced.

    He was found guilty of rape, forced oral copulation and another sexual misconduct count involving the woman who said he appeared uninvited at her hotel room door during a Los Angeles film festival in 2013.

    “Harvey Weinstein forever destroyed a part of me that night in 2013 and I will never get that back. The criminal trial was brutal and Weinstein’s lawyers put me through hell on the witness stand, but I knew I had to see this through to the end, and I did,” the woman said in a statement after the verdict. “I hope Weinstein never sees the outside of a prison cell during his lifetime.”

    Weinstein was acquitted of a sexual battery allegation made by a massage therapist who treated him at a hotel in 2010.

    The jury was unable to reach a decision on counts involving two accusers, notably rape and sexual assault charges involving Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. A mistrial was declared on those counts.

    Weinstein looked down at the table and appeared to put his face in his hands when the initial guilty counts were read. He looked forward as the rest of the verdict was read.

    “Harvey is obviously disappointed in the verdict. He knows what happened and what never did,” Weinstein’s spokesperson Juda Engelmayer said in an email, saying there was a strong basis for an appeal on the convictions. “Harvey is grateful for the jury’s work on the other counts, and he’s determined to continue his legal challenges in ultimately proving his innocence.”

    Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón applauded the accusers for their bravery to testify in the case, saying in a statement he was disappointed by the split verdict but hoped it brings “some measure of justice to the victims.”

    “Harvey Weinstein will never be able to rape another woman. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars where he belongs,” Siebel Newsom said in a statement. “Throughout the trial, Weinstein’s lawyers used sexism, misogyny, and bullying tactics to intimidate, demean, and ridicule us survivors. The trial was a stark reminder that we as a society have work to do.”

    Siebel Newsom’s intense and dramatic testimony, in which she described being raped by Weinstein in a hotel room in 2005, brought the trial its most dramatic moments. But only eight of the 12 jurors agreed to find Weinstein guilty of those counts.

    Jurors were deadlocked 10-2 on a sexual battery count involving Lauren Young, the only accuser who testified at both Weinstein trials. She said she was a model aspiring to be an actor and screenwriter who was meeting with Weinstein about a script in 2013 when he trapped her in a hotel bathroom, groped her and masturbated in front of her.

    Lacking any forensic evidence or eyewitness accounts of years-old allegations, the case hinged heavily on the stories and credibility of the four women at the center of the charges.

    The women’s stories echoed the allegations of dozens of others who have emerged since Weinstein became a #MeToo lightning rod starting with stories in the New York Times in 2017. A movie about that reporting, “She Said,” was released during the trial, and jurors were repeatedly warned not to see it.

    It was the defense that made #MeToo an issue during the trial, however, emphasizing that none of the four women went to the authorities until after the movement made Weinstein a target.

    Defense lawyers said two of the women — including the one he would be found guilty of raping — were entirely lying about their encounters with Weinstein. They said the other two had “100% consensual” sexual interactions that they later reframed.

    Defense attorneys said during the trial that if Siebel Newsom hadn’t reached her later prominence she would be “just another bimbo who slept with Harvey Weinstein to get ahead in Hollywood.”

    “Regret is not the same thing as rape,” Weinstein attorney Alan Jackson said in his closing argument.

    He urged jurors to look past the the women’s emotional testimony and focus on the factual evidence.

    “‘Believe us because we’re mad, believe us because we cried,’” Jackson said jurors were being asked to do. “Well, fury does not make fact. And tears do not make truth.”

    All the women involved in the charges went by Jane Doe in court. The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly or agree to be named through their attorneys, as the women named here did.

    Prosecutors called 40 other witnesses in an attempt to give context and corroboration to those stories. Four were other women who were not part of the charges but testified that Weinstein raped or sexually assaulted them. They were brought to the stand to establish a pattern of sexual predation.

    Weinstein beat four other felony charges before the trial even ended when prosecutors said a woman he was charged with raping twice and sexually assaulting twice would not appear to testify. They declined to give a reason. Judge Lisa Lench dismissed those charges.

    Weinstein’s latest conviction hands a victory to victims of sexual misconduct of famous men in the wake of some legal setbacks, including the dismissal of Bill Cosby’s conviction last year. The rape trial of “That ’70s Show” actor Danny Masterson, held simultaneously and just down the hall from Weinstein’s, ended in a mistrial. And actor Kevin Spacey was victorious at a sexual battery civil trial in New York last month.

    Weinstein’s New York conviction survived an initial appeal, but the case is set to be heard by the state’s highest court next year. The California conviction, also likely to be appealed, means he will not walk free even if the East Coast conviction is thrown out.

    ———

    Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton

    ———

    For more on the Harvey Weinstein trial, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/harvey-weinstein

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  • A Central Park entrance named for the exonerated ‘Central Park Five’ is unveiled | CNN

    A Central Park entrance named for the exonerated ‘Central Park Five’ is unveiled | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    New York City unveiled the “Gate of the Exonerated” in Central Park Monday to honor the group of Black and Hispanic teens known as the “Central Park Five” who were wrongfully convicted of beating and raping a White female jogger in the park more than 30 years ago.

    Korey Wise, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson and Yusef Salaam – individuals from the group, also known as the “Exonerated Five” – each served several years in prison before being exonerated in 2002.

    Robert M. Morgenthau was the Manhattan district attorney when Matias Reyes, a serial rapist and murderer confessed to the crime and said he had acted alone.

    DNA analysis later determined that Reyes did rape the jogger and that hair evidence used in the boys’ trials did not match.

    Morgenthau ordered a new investigation and, on his recommendation, a judge vacated the convictions.

    The city settled a lawsuit in 2014 with the five men, who were youths at the time of the crime and coerced amid a public uproar over race into confessing to the attack.

    The identity of the jogger, Trish Meili, was kept hidden for more than a decade until she wrote a book about her experience.

    Three of the wrongfully accused who were at the unveiling spoke of their collective struggle through injustices, the breaking of “generational curses” and continuing the fight for social justice.

    “We are here because we persevered … because what was written for us was hidden from the enemies that looked at the color of our skin and not the content of our character,” Salaam said.

    “They didn’t know who they had,” he added. “The system is alive and sick, and we are to ensure that the future is alive and well.”

    Santana said Monday’s unveiling was the first time he had returned to the park, bringing with him – also for the first time – his 18-year-old daughter. He said the men had been mere teens at the time.

    “We’re babies, that had no dealing with the law, never knew what Miranda was, but we’re here now,” he said. “Over 300 articles written about us in the first three weeks of this case, dissecting the lives of 14- and 15-year-old kids. The labels: ‘urban terrorist,’ ‘wolfpack,’” he recalled.

    New York Mayor Eric Adam’s reflected on the historic moment and presented a key to the city to the exonerated five.

    “History has an opportunity to rewrite the lines,” he said.

    Adams, a police officer at the time, said it “was a challenging time to be in that department with 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care, and standing up and fighting on behalf of these brothers.”

    “We knew what had happened to them was wrong and we refuse to remain silent,” he added.

    “The exonerated five is the American black boy-man story,” he said, adding, “They stood firm, they stood tall.”

    Another of the five, Richardson, said he recalled the public information campaign of hate against the accused, saying there had been “ads that said four of us should be horse whipped, while the elder, Korey Wise should be hung from a tree.”

    “That’s slave talk right there,” he said.

    Mayor Adams said the DOE should implement school trips to talk about what happened.

    “I think all of our young men and boys, the Board of Education. Chancellor Banks, we should be having school trips to talk about this story because as time moves forward, we believe that there were not real struggles to get us where we are right now and we lose the historical moments that took place,” the mayor said. “That’s why this is so significant.”

    The gate was unveiled near Central Park North, between 5th Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard.

    The entrance, at 110th Street, now has “Gate of the Exonerated” inscribed on the perimeter wall. It features a historical sign with background information about the entrance’s name and a QR code linking to online resources.

    Earlier this year, the New York City Public Design Commission unanimously approved the project .

    The unanimous vote was the fruit of years of work “with the Harlem community and Manhattan Community Board 10 to commemorate the Exonerated Five and all those wrongfully convicted of crimes,” a spokesperson for the Central Park Conservancy said in a statement earlier this year.

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  • Today in History: December 17, Wright Brothers’ first flight

    Today in History: December 17, Wright Brothers’ first flight

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    Today in History

    Today is Saturday, Dec. 17, the 351st day of 2022. There are 14 days left in the year.

    Today’s Highlight in History:

    On Dec. 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, conducted the first successful manned powered-airplane flights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, using their experimental craft, the Wright Flyer.

    On this date:

    In 1777, France recognized American independence.

    In 1933, in the inaugural NFL championship game, the Chicago Bears defeated the New York Giants, 23-21, at Wrigley Field.

    In 1944, the U.S. War Department announced it was ending its policy of excluding people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast.

    In 1957, the United States successfully test-fired the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.

    In 1969, the U.S. Air Force closed its Project “Blue Book” by concluding there was no evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings.

    In 1975, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was sentenced in Sacramento, California, to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Gerald R. Ford. (She was paroled in Aug. 2009.)

    In 1979, Arthur McDuffie, a Black insurance executive, was beaten by police after leading them on a chase with his motorcycle in Miami. McDuffie died in a hospital four days later. (Four white police officers accused of beating McDuffie were later acquitted, sparking riots.)

    In 1992, President George H.W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (muhl-ROO’-nee) and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (sah-LEE’-nuhs deh gohr-TAHR’-ee) signed the North American Free Trade Agreement in separate ceremonies. (After President Donald Trump demanded a new deal, the three countries signed a replacement agreement in 2018.)

    In 2011, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died after more than a decade of iron rule; he was 69, according to official records, but some reports indicated he was 70.

    In 2014, the United States and Cuba restored diplomatic relations, sweeping away one of the last vestiges of the Cold War.

    In 2018, a report from the Senate intelligence committee found that Russia’s political disinformation campaign on U.S. social media was more far-reaching than originally thought, with troll farms working to discourage Black voters and “blur the lines between reality and fiction” to help elect Donald Trump.

    In 2020, a government advisory panel endorsed a second COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way for the shot from Moderna and the National Institutes of Health to be added to the U.S. vaccination campaign.

    Ten years ago: Newtown, Connecticut, began laying its dead to rest, holding funerals for two 6-year-old boys, the first of the 20 children killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. A pair of NASA spacecraft, named Ebb and Flow, were deliberately crashed into a mountain near the moon’s north pole, ending a mission that peered into the lunar interior. Longtime Democratic U.S. senator and World War II hero Daniel Inouye (ih-NOH’-way) of Hawaii died in Bethesda, Maryland, at age 88.

    Five years ago: Facing an investigation of allegations of sexual misconduct and using racist language, Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson announced that he would sell the NFL team after the season. “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” took in $220 million in its debut weekend in North America, good for the second-best opening ever and behind only its predecessor, “The Force Awakens.” French sailor Francois Gabart broke the record for sailing around the world alone, circumnavigating the planet in just 42 days and 16 hours.

    One year ago: A federal appeals court panel ruled that President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for larger private employers could take effect. (Weeks later, the Supreme Court rejected that mandate.) A Florida man, 54-year-old Robert Palmer, who had attacked police officers trying to hold back the angry mob at the Capitol on Jan. 6, was sentenced to more than five years behind bars. The National Labor Relations Board confirmed a vote to form a union at a Starbucks store in Buffalo; the coffee retailer, for the first time, would have to bargain with organized labor at a company-owned U.S. store. A fire that spread from a fourth-floor mental clinic in an eight-story building in downtown Osaka in western Japan left 25 dead. (A clinic patient suspected of starting the fire died two weeks later at a hospital where he was being treated for burns and smoke inhalation.)

    Today’s Birthdays: Actor Armin Mueller-Stahl is 92. Pope Francis is 86. Singer-actor Tommy Steele is 86. Actor Bernard Hill is 78. Actor Ernie Hudson is 77. Comedian-actor Eugene Levy is 76. Actor Marilyn Hassett is 75. Actor Wes Studi is 75. Pop musician Jim Bonfanti (The Raspberries) is 74. Actor Joel Brooks is 73. Rock singer Paul Rodgers is 73. R&B singer Wanda Hutchinson Vaughn (The Emotions) is 71. Actor Bill Pullman is 69. Actor Barry Livingston is 69. Country singer Sharon White is 69. Producer-director-writer Peter Farrelly is 66. Rock musician Mike Mills (R.E.M.) is 64. Pop singer Sarah Dallin (Bananarama) is 61. Country singer Tracy Byrd is 56. Country musician Duane Propes is 56. Actor Laurie Holden is 53. DJ Homicide (Sugar Ray) is 52. Actor Sean Patrick Thomas is 52. Actor Claire Forlani is 51. Pop-rock musician Eddie Fisher (OneRepublic) is 49. Actor Sarah Paulson is 48. Actor Marissa Ribisi is 48. Actor Giovanni Ribisi is 48. Actor Milla Jovovich (YO’-vuh-vich) is 47. Singer Bree Sharp is 47. Singer-songwriter Ben Goldwasser (MGMT) is 40. Rock singer Mikky Ekko is 39. Actor Shannon Woodward is 38. Actor Emma Bell is 36. Actor Vanessa Zima is 36. Rock musician Taylor York (Paramore) is 33. Actor Graham Rogers is 32. Actor-singer Nat Wolff is 28.

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  • Nobel laureate economist faces sex harassment investigation

    Nobel laureate economist faces sex harassment investigation

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    A U.S. university is investigating a Nobel laureate over sexual harassment allegations that the economist’s attorney dismisses as “professional rivalry.”

    Philip Dybvig, who shared this year’s Nobel Prize in economics for research into bank failures, has been questioned in the past several weeks by the Title IX office at Washington University in St. Louis, his lawyer Andrew Miltenberg told The Associated Press.

    Miltenberg said the allegations are “factually inaccurate.” Dybvig, a longtime banking and finance professor at the university, didn’t immediately respond to an email message seeking comment.

    Dybvig, fellow economist Douglas W. Diamond and former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke won the Nobel Prize in economics in October for research into bank failures — work that built on lessons learned in the Great Depression and helped shape America’s aggressive response to the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The findings in the early 1980s laid the foundations for regulating financial markets, the Nobel panel said.

    The Nobel panel at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, in recognizing the three winners, said their research showed “why avoiding bank collapses is vital.”

    Bloomberg News reported that it has reviewed emails that show that the Title IX office, which handles campus sexual harassment complaints, has reached out to at least three former students since October to interview them about claims involving Dybvig. They’re among a group of seven former students Bloomberg reported it had spoken with who allege Dybvig sexually harassed them. Most of the women Bloomberg interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity.

    Tore Ellingsen, chair of the Nobel’s Economic Sciences Prize Committee, told Bloomberg that the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which oversees the awards, contacted the university to make sure they had a fair process to handle the accusations.

    “As long as the university has not determined that Dybvig has done something wrong, I think we owe him an untarnished celebration of his great scientific achievement,” Ellingsen told Bloomberg.

    The Nobel Peace Prize and Foundation didn’t immediately respond to email messages from the AP.

    The university didn’t immediately respond Friday to emails and phone messages from the AP. University spokesperson Julie Flory told Bloomberg that the school doesn’t comment on specific cases but takes sexual misconduct seriously and will investigate any allegations.

    Miltenberg said he was suspicious of the timing of the allegations, noting that they surfaced after the award was announced but before the scheduled award ceremony.

    “We believe,” he said, “that this is a situation of professional rivalry.”

    Miltenberg said that Dybvig faces no restrictions and that he already was scheduled not to teach in the spring semester “well in advance” of the allegations arising.

    Miltenberg said it is his understanding that the investigation is in the preliminary stages and that the Title IX office wants to speak with Dybvig again.

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  • Fact check: Republican congressman falsely claims Democratic congresswoman said pedophilia isn’t a crime | CNN Politics

    Fact check: Republican congressman falsely claims Democratic congresswoman said pedophilia isn’t a crime | CNN Politics

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    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    On Thursday afternoon, Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas accused Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California of having said that “pedophilia isn’t a crime.”

    But Porter did not say that. Jackson, like some conservative Twitter personalities, was wrongly describing Porter’s remarks.

    Jackson has more than 500,000 followers on Twitter. Here’s what he tweeted: “Katie Porter just said that pedophilia isn’t a crime, she said it’s an ‘identity.’ THIS IS THE EMBODIMENT OF EVIL! The sad thing is that this woman isn’t the only VILE person pushing for pedophilia normalization. This is what progressives believe!”

    Facts First: Jackson’s claim is false. Porter did not say that pedophilia isn’t a crime. Full video from a congressional hearing on Wednesday shows that Porter actually said that LGBTQ people are being falsely smeared on social media as being a “groomer” or “pedophile” merely because of their gender identity and sexual orientation. She did not defend pedophilia itself.

    In other words, Porter is being baselessly described as a supporter of pedophilia over comments in which she was denouncing how other people are being baselessly described as pedophiles.

    Jackson’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday afternoon.

    Porter made her remarks during a Wednesday hearing of the House Oversight and Reform Committee that was focused on violence and hate directed at lesbian, gay and transgender Americans. Porter was speaking to Kelley Robinson, president of an advocacy group called the Human Rights Campaign, about the group’s report on tweets the group said “mention the LGBTQ+ community alongside slurs such as ‘groomer’, ‘predator’ and ‘pedophile’.”

    Here is a transcript of the relevant portion of the exchange, which can be viewed at the 2:49:30 mark of this video.

    Porter: I wanted to start with Ms. Robinson, if I could. Your organization recently released a report analyzing the 500 most viewed, most influential tweets that identified LGBTQ people as so-called ‘groomers.’ The ‘groomer’ narrative is an age-old lie to position LGBTQ+ people as a threat to kids. And what it does is deny them access to public spaces, it stokes fear, and can even stoke violence. Ms. Robinson, according to its own hateful content policy, does Twitter allow posts calling LGBTQ+ people ‘groomers’?

    Robinson: No. I mean, Twitter, along with Facebook and many others, have community guidelines. It’s about holding users accountable to those guidelines, and acknowledging that when we use phrases and words like ‘groomers’ and ‘pedophiles’ to describe people – individuals in our communities that are mothers, that are fathers, that are teachers, that are doctors – it is dangerous. And it’s got one purpose. It is to dehumanize us. And make us feel like we are not a part of this American society. And it has real-life consequences. So we are calling on social media companies to uphold their community standards. And we’re also calling on any American that’s seeing this play out to hold ourselves and our community members accountable. We wouldn’t accept this in our families, we wouldn’t accept this in our schools. There’s no reason to accept it online.

    Porter: So – I mean, I think you’re absolutely right. And it’s not – this allegation of ‘groomer’ and of ‘pedophile,’ it is alleging that a person is criminal somehow, and engaged in criminal acts, merely because of their identity, their sexual orientation, their gender identity. So this is clearly prohibited under Twitter’s content. Yet you found hundreds of these posts on the platform.

    Nowhere did Porter say that pedophilia isn’t a crime. And the context of the exchange makes clear that she was criticizing false accusations of pedophilia that are based on a person’s identity, not saying that pedophilia is itself an identity.

    Inaccurate descriptions of Porter’s remarks spread on Twitter on Thursday with the help of videos that left out key parts of what she said.

    Jackson’s tweet used similar language as tweets earlier in the day from some other prominent accounts. For example, an account called Libs of TikTok, which has more than 1.6 million Twitter followers, wrote: “Rep Katie Porter (D) says pedophilia isn’t a crime – it’s an identity.”

    But the video that Libs of TikTok posted in support of this claim, which came from yet another conservative account, did not show the full exchange between Porter and Robinson. Specifically, it omitted Porter’s key initial comments – the ones in which she said she was talking about tweets “that identified LGBTQ people as so-called ‘groomers’” and in which she described the “groomer” accusation as “an age-old lie to position LGBTQ+ people as a threat to kids.” It also left out Robinson’s reply, in which Robinson also made clear that they were talking about groundless smears.

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  • Twitter disbands its ‘Trust and Safety Council’ that tackled harassment and child exploitation | CNN Business

    Twitter disbands its ‘Trust and Safety Council’ that tackled harassment and child exploitation | CNN Business

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    CNN
     — 

    Twitter on Monday night announced it was disbanding its “Trust and Safety Council,” according to an email the company sent to the councils’ members that was obtained by CNN.

    The company said in the email that it was “reevaluating how best to bring external insights into our product and policy development work. As part of this process, we have decided that the Trust and Safety Council is not the best structure to do this.”

    The move comes as Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk is undoing many of the policies and practices put in place before he took over the social media company.

    A page on Twitter’s website, which has now been removed, explained that the council was made up of external expert organizations that advised on issues including online safety, human and digital rights, suicide prevention, mental health, child sexual exploitation, and dehumanization.

    “Together, they advocate for safety and advise us as we develop our products, programs, and rules,” Twitter previously explained.

    Three members of the council resigned in protest last week, writing in a statement that “contrary to claims by Elon Musk, the safety and wellbeing of Twitter’s users are on the decline.”

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  • Jury goes a week with no verdict at Weinstein rape trial

    Jury goes a week with no verdict at Weinstein rape trial

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    LOS ANGELES — Jurors at the Los Angeles rape and sexual misconduct trial of Harvey Weinstein have been deliberating for a week without reaching a verdict.

    The jury of eight men and four women went home Friday afternoon and will return to resume deliberations on Monday morning.

    They must decide on two counts of rape and five other sexual assault counts against the 70-year-old former movie magnate.

    The jurors have had no questions for the court that might provide insight into the status of their work.

    They got the case at the end of closing arguments on Dec. 2. They have been deliberating for 5 1/2 days, or about 24 hours total.

    The only issue raised, and the only time the attorneys have returned to the courtroom in a week, came Friday morning when one of the five alternate jurors asked if he could be excused because of travel plans. Weinstein’s lawyers objected, and the judge rejected the request.

    Weinstein still has more than 20 years left on his sentence in New York after a rape and sexual assault conviction there that is under appeal.

    In California, he could get 60 years to life in prison if he’s convicted on all counts involving all four women he’s charged with assaulting.

    All four testified during the trial, along with four other accusers who testified for prosecutors attempting to show a propensity for such acts by Weinstein.

    Prosecutors urged jurors to end the “reign of terror” of a man they called a “degenerate rapist.”

    Weinstein’s lawyers argued that two of the women’s accusations are entirely fabricated and two others reframed consensual sexual encounters as assault years later, after the #MeToo movement made Weinstein a target.

    He has pleaded not guilty and denied engaging in any non-consensual sex.

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  • Jury deliberations in Harvey Weinstein’s 2nd sexual assault trial enter 6th day in Los Angeles | CNN

    Jury deliberations in Harvey Weinstein’s 2nd sexual assault trial enter 6th day in Los Angeles | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    The second sexual assault trial of Harvey Weinstein, the former movie producer accused of using his Hollywood influence to lure women into private meetings and assault them, entered its sixth day Friday in the hands of a Los Angeles jury.

    Weinstein, behind bars in a medical unit, awaits a verdict on two counts of forcible rape and five counts of sexual assault involving four women – a model, a dancer, a massage therapist and a producer. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

    Jurors began deliberating Friday after hearing weeks of testimony from dozens of witnesses. As of Thursday evening, jurors have been in deliberation for about 20 hours.

    At trial, four of the original 11 charges against Weinstein tied to one of the Jane Does were dropped without explanation.

    Weinstein could face 60 years to life in prison, plus an additional five years, if the jury finds him guilty.

    Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted of a criminal sex act and third-degree rape during a 2020 trial in New York. His attorneys have appealed the conviction.

    Weinstein’s publicist, Juda Engelmayer, told CNN the former producer is in a detention facility’s medical unit, and is anxious but “hoping for the best.”

    The trial in Los Angeles included testimony from the four accusers identified as Jane Does in court, and other witnesses, including experts, law enforcement, friends of accusers and former aides to Weinstein.

    Additionally, four women testified they were subjected to similar incidents by Weinstein in other jurisdictions.

    All the accusers were asked in court to recount the details of their allegations against Weinstein, provide details of meetings with the producer from years ago and explain their reactions to the alleged assaults.

    Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom – identified by her attorneys as Jane Doe 4 – alleged Weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2005.

    In closing arguments Wednesday, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez called Weinstein a “titan” who used his power in Hollywood to prey on and silence women.

    “Rapists rape. You can look at the pattern,” fellow prosecutor Paul Thompson told jurors.

    “You have irrefutable, overwhelming evidence about the nature of this man and what he did to these women,” Thompson said.

    Meanwhile, Weinstein’s attorneys have maintained the allegations are either fabricated or occurred consensually as part of a “transactional relationship” with the movie producer, repeatedly saying there is no evidence of assault.

    Defense attorney Alan Jackson called the accusers “fame and fortune seekers.”

    Each morning at trial, Weinstein was brought from a correctional facility and wheeled into the Los Angeles courtroom wearing a suit and tie and holding a composition notebook.

    His accusers all began their oftentimes emotional testimonies by identifying him in the courtroom as he looked on.

    “He’s wearing a suit, and a blue tie and he’s staring at me,” Siebel Newsom said last month, before what was one of the most emotional moments of the trial.

    On Thursday of last week, defense attorney Jackson asked jurors if they could “accept what (the Jane Does) say as gospel,” arguing what they said was a lack of forensic evidence supporting their claim.

    “Five words that sum up the entirety of the prosecution’s case: ‘Take my word for it,’” Jackson said. “‘Take my word for it that he showed up at my hotel room unannounced. Take my word for it that I showed up at his hotel room. Take my word for it that I didn’t consent. Take my word for it, that I said no.’”

    Siebel Newsom described an hourslong “cat-and-mouse period,” which preceded her alleged assault. She, like other accusers, described feeling “frozen” that day.

    Attorneys for Weinstein do not deny the incident occurred, but said he believed it was consensual.

    Jackson called the incident “consensual, transactional sex,” adding: “Regret is not the same thing as rape. And it’s important we make that distinction in this courtroom.”

    Women’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred, who is representing Jane Doe 2 in the case, told CNN she hopes the jury sees her client “has no motive at all to do anything but tell the truth.”

    “She never sought or received any compensation … She doesn’t live in California anymore. But she is testifying because she’s been asked to testify and I hope that they see her as the young woman that she was when she met Harvey Weinstein, and the woman that she is today approximately nine to 10 years later. Her life has changed,” Allred said.

    “To be willing to subject yourself to what could be a very brutal cross-examination. That takes a very special person to do that. And she is a special person. I’m very proud,” Allred said.

    In her closing arguments, Martinez also highlighted that the women who testified chose to do so despite knowing they would face tough conditions in court.

    “The truth is that, as you sit here, we know the despicable behavior the defendant engaged in. He thought he was so powerful that people would … excuse his behavior,” Martinez said. “That’s just Harvey being Harvey. That’s just Hollywood. And for so long that’s what everyone did. Everyone just turned their heads.”

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  • House Committee investigation finds NFL owner Dan Snyder led by a ‘culture of fear’ | CNN

    House Committee investigation finds NFL owner Dan Snyder led by a ‘culture of fear’ | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A year-long investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform revealed on Thursday that Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder established a “culture of fear” within the NFL organization and attempted to intimidate witnesses from cooperating with investigators.

    The 79-page report found “sexual harassment, bullying, and other toxic conduct” pervaded the workplace for decades. The investigation was announced last October by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, chairwoman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, following allegations against Snyder.

    At a previous congressional roundtable, former employees and cheerleaders accused Snyder of asking staff to compile lewd video clips of cheerleaders without their knowledge or consent.

    An internal investigation by attorney Beth Wilkinson last year resulted in the NFL fining the Commanders $10 million and Snyder handing control of the franchise’s daily operations to his wife. But the NFL declined to publicly release its findings, sparking the House Oversight Committee’s review in October.

    Snyder has denied the accusations and said last month that he is considering a sale of the team.

    The report noted the NFL was aware that Snyder and the Commanders organization “used a variety of tactics to intimidate, surveil, and pay off whistleblowers and to influence and obstruct Ms. Wilkinson’s work.”

    The investigation revealed Snyder attempted to intimidate witnesses by sending private investigators to the homes of former employees. The congressional report also states how Snyder told former team president Bruce Allen that Snyder planned to deploy private investigators to follow others, including NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

    CNN has reached out to Snyder for comment.

    NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy issued a statement on Thursday afternoon in response to the report’s findings, saying it did not impede the investigation.

    “No individual who wished to speak to the Wilkinson firm was prevented from doing so by non-disclosure agreements,” the statement reads. “And many of the more than 150 witnesses who participated in the Wilkinson investigation did so on the condition that their identities would be kept confidential. Far from impeding the investigation, the common interest agreement enabled the NFL efficiently to assume oversight of the matter and avoided the potential for substantial delay and inconvenience to witnesses.”

    The NFL said it has cooperated “extensively” with the committee’s investigation and is committed to “ensuring that all employees of the NFL and the 32 clubs work in a professional and supportive environment that is free from discrimination, harassment, or other forms of illegal or unprofessional conduct.”

    In October, Snyder denied allegations he hired private investigators to look into his NFL counterparts, as well as Goodell.

    On Thursday, lawyers for the Commanders said congressional investigators “were not interested in the truth” in their investigation of Snyder and “no new revelations” were revealed in Thursday’s report.

    As for the NFL, the congressional inquiry concluded the league was complicit in Snyder’s behavior by aligning “its legal interests with Mr. Snyder’s.” The league “failed to curtail his abusive tactics, and buried the investigation’s findings,” the committee said.

    “Today’s report reflects the damning findings of the Committee’s year-long investigation and shows how one of the most powerful organizations in America, the NFL, mishandled pervasive sexual harassment and misconduct at the Washington Commanders,” Maloney said in a statement.

    “Our report tells the story of a team rife with sexual harassment and misconduct, a billionaire owner intent on deflecting blame, and an influential organization that chose to cover this up rather than seek accountability and stand up for employees,” the statement continued. “To powerful industries across the country, this report should serve as a wake-up call that the time of covering up misconduct to protect powerful executives is over.”

    In its conclusion, the committee has called for Congress to introduce reforms that would “strengthen oversight of toxic workplaces in the NFL and other professional sports leagues.”

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  • A Virginia superintendent is fired after a state report into handling of sexual assaults at school is issued | CNN

    A Virginia superintendent is fired after a state report into handling of sexual assaults at school is issued | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    A Virginia school superintendent was fired Tuesday, a day after a report from the state accused him of lying about a sexual assault involving a student in May 2021.

    The special grand jury report, conducted by the office of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, also criticized former school superintendent Dr. Scott Ziegler and other school officials for mishandling the investigation of an October sexual assault allegedly by the same student that year.

    The superintendent said of the May sexual assault “to my knowledge we don’t have any records of assaults occurring in our restrooms,” at a June 2021 school board meeting, according to the report. At the time, Ziegler said he misunderstood the question.

    The Loudoun County Public School Board voted unanimously to fire Ziegler Tuesday night, but provided no reason for the firing, school spokesman Wayde Byard told CNN.

    “The Special Grand Jury’s report contains important recommendations and information,” Miyares said in a statement to CNN Wednesday. “I’m glad to see that the school board is taking the report seriously, and hope it results in positive change for the LCPS community.”

    CNN has attempted to reach Ziegler for comment. Byard would not comment further regarding allegations into LCPS mishandling of the sexual assault cases outlined in the special grand jury report.

    A teenage student had been arrested for sexual battery and abduction of another student at a Loudoun County public school in October 2021, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said, according to the report.

    The teenager also allegedly sexually assaulted another student in May 2021, according to the report. In that assault, the grand jury report alleged that the sexual assault occurred in a women’s bathroom while the perpetrator was wearing a skirt.

    “National outrage focused on Loudoun County because the student was labeled as gender fluid, LCPS had recently passed a transgender policy to conform with the Virginia Department of Education’s model policy,” said the report.

    CNN could not find evidence substantiating that the student identified as transgender or gender-fluid.

    The 2021 Virginia Department of Education’s Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools outlined that transgender students should be allowed to use bathrooms and staff should use the personal pronouns that were most consistent with their gender identity.

    In 2022, under Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the Department of Education replaced the policy with an updated one stating that students should use bathrooms according to his or her sex.

    On his first day in office on January 15, Youngkin passed an executive order authorizing an investigation of Loudoun County Public Schools by the Attorney General. Youngkin had mentioned the sexual assault cases at Loudoun schools several times while campaigning for governor.

    “The special grand jury’s report on the horrific sexual assaults in Loudoun has exposed wrongdoing, prompted disciplinary actions, & provided families with the truth. I will continue to empower parents & push for accountability on behalf of our students,” Youngkin tweeted Wednesday.

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  • Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson returns to field after 11-game suspension

    Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson returns to field after 11-game suspension

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    Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson returns to field after 11-game suspension – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Deshaun Watson returned to the NFL field after an 11-game suspension, following accusations of sexual misconduct. On Sunday, Watson played his first game as Cleveland Browns quarterback against his former team, the Houston Texans. ESPN’S William Rhoden joins “CBS Mornings” to discuss Watson’s reinstatement and return to the field.

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  • Deshaun Watson returns from ban with some support, many boos

    Deshaun Watson returns from ban with some support, many boos

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    HOUSTON — Deshaun Watson signed autographs for Texans and Browns fans and posed for selfies before his first game in 700 days in a familiar place.

    Once the game started, it was overwhelming boos for Watson.

    Watson heard jeers before taking each snap throughout the first half in his first game Sunday since returning from an 11-game suspension for sexual misconduct. Watson’s debut with Cleveland came against Houston, where he was a three-time Pro Bowl pick in four seasons.

    After an interception gave the Browns their first possession at their 43, Watson threw a pair of incomplete passes. He spun away from a sack on third down, and fans cheered when his throw to David Bell hit the ground.

    Watson’s first completed pass on his third attempt resulted in a turnover when Anthony Schwartz fumbled after a 12-yard gain. Watson later drove the Browns to Houston’s 11 before throwing an interception in the end zone.

    Watson looked rusty after the nearly two-year layoff, completing 8 of 14 passes for 96 yards and a pick. But the Browns took a 7-5 lead into halftime following a 76-yard punt return for a score by Donovan Peoples-Jones.

    Watson had several supporters in the stands before the game, while a group of the women who accused him of sexual harassment and assault during massages also planned to attend. Attorney Tony Buzbee, who represents the women, didn’t respond to a text message seeking to confirm their attendance. He said earlier in the week about 10 women wanted to attend “to kind of make the statement, ’Hey we’re still here. We matter.’”

    One fan walked into NRG Stadium wearing a derogatory shirt in Browns colors that includes text saying “I need a massage.” He was joined by a fan wearing Watson’s No. 4 Browns jersey.

    Fans in the parking lot set up a fake massage table with a mannequin wearing a red Texans jersey and a towel.

    The few fans in their seats when Watson and the Browns jogged onto the field about an hour before kickoff booed.

    Watson sat out the 2021 season after demanding a trade from Houston. After two grand juries in Texas declined to indict him over the allegations, the Browns traded several draft picks to get Watson and then signed him to a fully guaranteed $235 million contract.

    After warming up, Watson signed jerseys for fans behind the end zone. An 18-year-old man from East Texas got Watson’s autograph on his Browns jersey. A couple from Houston wearing Texans jerseys also got Watson’s signature on their jerseys.

    “We don’t really know what happened and everyone deserves a second chance,” said Sherry Holden, explaining her support.

    Several Browns fans said they were uncomfortable rooting for Watson.

    “I’m cheering for the jersey and the team but it’s hard to accept him as my quarterback,” said Brandon Collins, who traveled from Ohio for the game.

    The NFL wanted to suspend Watson for at least one season but settled for 11 games after an independent arbiter initially gave him a six-game ban. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pointed to former U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson calling Watson’s behavior “egregious” and “predatory” in seeking the full suspension.

    Watson also was fined $5 million and required to undergo professional counseling and therapy. Watson has maintained his innocence but also apologized to the women he impacted.

    The Browns went 4-7 with veteran Jacoby Brissett filling in for Watson. The Texans are 1-9-1.

    ———

    Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/robmaaddi

    ———

    AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP—NFL

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  • Around 10 of the women who accused Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct will attend his Cleveland Browns debut vs. Houston, attorney says | CNN

    Around 10 of the women who accused Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct will attend his Cleveland Browns debut vs. Houston, attorney says | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Around 10 of the more than two dozen women who accused Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct will be attending his game in Houston on Sunday, according to their attorney.

    Watson will return to the field for his first NFL regular season game in two years to play against his former team, the Houston Texans, after serving an 11-game suspension without pay following sexual misconduct allegations.

    “They thought it important to make clear that they are still here and that they matter. I was proud of them for that,” Tony Buzbee, the lawyer representing the accusers attending the game, told CNN in a statement. “I have made that opportunity available to them. I haven’t been to a Texans game in many years. But, because they are going, I will go too.”

    Before his suspension, 24 civil lawsuits were filed on behalf of women alleging Watson sexually harassed or assaulted them during private massage appointments during his time with the Houston Texans. Watson denied wrongdoing in those cases, and 23 of the lawsuits were settled confidentially. Two grand juries declined to charge Watson criminally.

    Less than two months after settling the lawsuits, a new civil suit was filed by another woman in October, alleging that Watson pressured her into sexual activity during a professional massage session. Despite the new lawsuit, the NFL said his status would remain “unchanged.”

    Watson has repeatedly denied the allegations against him and said he has no regrets about any of his actions. He spoke to the media for the first time Thursday since returning from suspension, declining to answer any non-football questions that were asked.

    “I understand you guys have a lot of questions, but with my legal team and my clinical team, there is only football questions that I can really address at this time,” Watson told reporters, adding that he was “excited” to be back with his team and thanked those who stood by his side.

    “I also want to thank the Browns organization, the ownership, my teammates in that locker room and all of the coaching staff for all of the support that they had for me, especially my time away,” he said.

    Watson violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy in private meetings with massage therapists while he was with the Houston Texans, according to the initial ruling by Sue L. Robinson, a judge jointly appointed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) to decide on Watson’s punishment.

    Watson’s “pattern of conduct is more egregious than any before reviewed by the NFL,” Robinson said in her ruling, adding that Watson’s “lack of expressed remorse” was a factor in the discipline that she chose.

    When Watson plays at NRG Stadium in Houston against his former team on Sunday, among those watching him from the sidelines will be women who he allegedly sexually harassed and assaulted.

    “I think it’s important to note each of these women is different. You can’t paint them with a broad brush. I would never encourage any of them to attend,” Buzbee said. “Some never want to hear Watson’s name again. Others have put it in the past. Some are still angry. Others are defiant. Makes me proud they want to stand up and be counted rather than quietly go away.”

    The NFL and the Cleveland Browns did not respond to CNN’s request for comment regarding the accusers’ attendance.

    Despite denying the allegations, Watson, who started the preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in August, said that he is “truly sorry to all of the women that I have impacted in this situation” during a pregame interview shared by the Browns on Twitter

    “My decisions that I made in my life that put me in this position I would definitely like to have back, but I want to continue to move forward and grow and learn and show that I am a true person of character and I am going to keep pushing forward,” Watson said.

    Women’s movement organizations and nonprofits dedicated to protecting victims of sexual assault and harassment have applauded the accusers for attending the game.

    “I’m proud of them for being strong enough to try and take some of the power back. Even today when survivors hear stories like this, they are triggered by it,” Donisha Greene, spokeswoman for local advocacy group the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center (RCC), told CNN. “By attending the game, the accusers are saying they are not willing to suffer in silence. What that says to other survivors is that you don’t have to suffer in silence either.”

    Christian Nunes, the president of women’s rights grassroots group National Organization for Women (NOW), echoed Greene’s sentiments.

    “What happens so often is people try to shame, victim blame, silence, and erase victims and survivors of violence and abuse,” Nunes told CNN. “For them to show up and say no, you wont erase me, is so powerful. I give them so much respect and admiration for standing up against him, letting him know nothing, including money, can or will silence them.”

    Despite Cleveland’s love for its NFL team, Greene says many in the local community have increased their support for advocacy organizations like the Cleveland RCC that support sexual abuse and rape survivors, promoting healing and prevention, and increasing education.

    “It’s a tough place to be in. We’re a huge football town, folks here have been lifelong fans of the Cleveland Browns,” Greene said. “It’s a big deal to try and straddle that fence between your fandom and recognizing you’re not comfortable with the story of Deshaun Watson.”

    Even with dozens of sexual misconduct allegations, the Browns traded three first-round picks with the Texans for Watson, then signed him to a 5-year, fully guaranteed $230 million contract, the most guaranteed money in NFL history.

    “It’s just like a big ‘screw you,’” Ashley Solis, one of Watson’s accusers, told HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” following the news of his signing. “That’s what it feels like. That we don’t care. He can run and throw, and that’s what we care about.”

    The decision triggered outrage and inspired many to get involved, Greene said, adding that the Cleveland RCC received over $120,000 donations specifically related to Watson.

    “For those who are struggling with wanting to speak up for victims but also cheer for the Browns and find a medium can get involved with our work and mission,” she added. “Our place is with the survivors, We believe you, we hear you, we see you. Your stories and your experiences matter.”

    While the league has faced scrutiny in the past for its handling of sexual misconduct accusations, this was the NFL’s harshest punishment for someone accused of sexual assault.

    The NFL initially asked for a suspension covering its 17-game regular season and playoffs, but Robinson ruled on August 1 that Watson would receive a six-game suspension.

    No player accused of non-violent sexual assault, as Watson has been, has received a suspension longer than three games, Robinson said in her ruling, and the most common discipline for domestic or gendered violence and sexual acts is a six-game suspension.

    Unlike in the past, however, the NFL pushed for more – appealing the decision and seeking a full-season suspension. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell called Watson’s behavior “egregious” and “predatory.”

    When asked why the league continued to seek a harsher punishment for Watson, Goodell said: “Because we’ve seen the evidence. (Robinson) was very clear about the evidence, she reinforced the evidence that there was multiple violations here and they were egregious and it was predatory behavior.”

    Later that month, the NFL and NFLPA agreed to suspend Watson for 11 regular season games and fine him $5 million, plus an extra $1 million each from both the league and the Browns to go towards nonprofit organizations working to prevent sexual assault, support survivors and educate youth on healthy relationships.

    “We as an organization and as individuals, we have tremendous empathy for the women involved and we have an opportunity to make a difference in this community,” Susan “Dee” Haslam, co-owner of the Browns, said in August.

    Watson also underwent “a professional evaluation by behavioral experts” and followed their ” treatment program,” according to the agreement.

    Women advocacy groups argue none of that is enough.

    The NFL has issued longer suspensions for violations including alleged drug use and gambling – and under his latest contract with the Browns, the suspension will not cost much of his guaranteed money, according to ESPN.

    “His punishment is not enough,” Nunes said, arguing that Watson should be banned entirely from the league. “Although they’ve done all this performative work, essentially they’re saying they will choose profit over actually protecting women and survivors.”

    Jimmy Haslam, Dee Haslam’s husband and Browns co-owner, said, “People deserve second chances.”

    “Is he never supposed to play again? Is he never supposed to be part of society? Does he get no chance to rehabilitate himself? And that’s what we’re going to do,” he said, referring to Watson. “That doesn’t mean we don’t have empathy for people affected and we will continue to do so. We believe that Deshaun Watson deserves a second chance.”

    The team’s “refusal to prioritize protecting women sends a disgusting message” to survivors of sexual assault, Nunes said.

    “The fact that Watson can continue working, with no real accountability, is outrageous,” she said. “The NFL needs to stop harboring abusers and sexual predators.”

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  • Watson has better shot winning with Browns than fixing image

    Watson has better shot winning with Browns than fixing image

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    Deshaun Watson has a better chance of leading the Cleveland Browns to their first Super Bowl title than rebuilding his public image.

    The disgraced quarterback wouldn’t address his 11-game suspension for sexual misconduct or his league-mandated therapy sessions on Thursday in his first comments since returning to the Browns.

    “I have been advised to stay away from that and keep that personal,” Watson said during a 16-minute session with the media in Berea, Ohio.

    Watson has been accused by more than two dozen women of sexual harassment and assault during massage therapy sessions. He has settled 23 civil lawsuits brought by the women, while two others, including one filed in October, are pending.

    Still, Watson could’ve said he’s grown as a person through counseling, that he has a better understanding of how his behavior affects others and he’s striving to be the best version of himself.

    Of course, few people would believe him.

    Watson doesn’t have many fans outside of Cleveland and he has a long way to go to win over most folks.

    His actions matter more than his words, according to Rita Smith, a senior adviser to the NFL who was hired in 2014 to help shape the league’s policy on domestic abuse and sexual assault.

    “How I will know if he’s learned anything is how he behaves in the future,” Smith told The Associated Press. “If he never is accused of this kind of behavior again, then we know that he’s learned something that’s helpful for him. Until then, what he says is kind of irrelevant.”

    The 27-year-old, three-time Pro Bowl quarterback has maintained his innocence and hasn’t taken much accountability for his behavior that was labeled “egregious” and “predatory” by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

    “I’ve always stood on my innocence and always said I’ve never assaulted anyone or disrespected anyone, and I’m continuing to stand on that,” Watson said in August after the NFL and the NFL Players Association reached a settlement on his punishment terms.

    He then explained he was apologizing “for people that were triggered” by his actions.

    Does he still feel the same way? Did counseling change his perspective?

    That’s unknown.

    The NFL made it a priority to mandate professional counseling and therapy as part of Watson’s discipline so he could learn from mistakes, improve his decision-making and do better.

    “It was really important for us that, No. 1, that he do some kind of sessions and that the person who is doing the sessions has an understanding of violence and abuse and trauma that we would suggest they look for to help him,” Smith said.

    Watson will face intense scrutiny everywhere: His performance on the field will be analyzed, his mannerisms on the sideline, his interactions with teammates in the huddle and his interviews with the media will be dissected.

    Starting Sunday when he takes the field against his former teammates in Houston, fans will boo him, taunt and hurl insults.

    “I am not worried about the atmosphere,” Watson said. “I have to go in and make sure I execute the game plan.”

    The Browns haven’t won an NFL title since 1964. They have as many winless seasons (one) as playoff victories since 1999.

    Delivering a championship will be a tough task for Watson, who received a fully guaranteed $235 million contract to do it. It still may be easier than reconstructing his image.

    ———

    Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/robmaaddi

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    AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP—NFL

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  • ‘Regret is not rape,’ Weinstein lawyer says in closing

    ‘Regret is not rape,’ Weinstein lawyer says in closing

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    LOS ANGELES — An attorney for Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles rape and sexual assault trial told jurors Thursday that prosecutors’ case relies entirely on asking them to trust women whose testimony showed they were untrustworthy.

    “‘Take my word for it’ — five words that sum up the entirety of the prosecution’s case,” Jackson told jurors in his closing argument.

    The 70-year-old former movie magnate is charged with raping and sexually assaulting two women and committing sexual battery against two others.

    Jackson argued that two of the women were entirely lying about their encounters, while the other two took part in “transactional sex” for the sake of career advancement that was “100% consensual.” But after the #MeToo explosion around Weinstein with stories in the New York Times and the New Yorker — which Jackson called a “dogpile” on his client — the women became regretful.

    “Regret is not rape,” Jackson told jurors several times.

    Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence for a conviction in New York for rape and sexual assault against two women.

    Prosecutors in Los Angeles completed their closing argument earlier Thursday, after giving most of it Wednesday, and urged jurors to complete Weinstein’s takedown by convicting him in California.

    “It is time for the defendant’s reign of terror to end,” Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez said. “It is time for the kingmaker to be brought to justice.”

    In his closings, Weinstein’s attorney urged jurors to look past the emotion of the testimony the four women gave, and focus on the factual evidence.

    “‘Believe us because we’re mad, believe us because we cried,’” Jackson said jurors were being asked to do. “Well, fury does not make fact. And tears do not make truth.”

    He was especially adamant about the tearful and dramatic testimony of Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said Weinstein raped her in a Beverly Hills hotel room in 2005.

    “It was a theatrical, overly dramatized performance,” he said. “What you saw was an act.”

    Siebel Newsom was one of the women who engaged in “transactional sex,” Jackson argued. “She knows it, and she hates it.”

    He said the testimony was also dishonest, as when Siebel Newsom testified that she bumped into Weinstein occasionally after the assault, including an encounter at the 2007 film festival, which left her “triggered.” Jackson pointed to an email where Siebel Newsom had actually sought out the meetup with Weinstein.

    Jackson told the jurors Weinstein was never even in the hotel room with the other woman he is charged with raping, an Italian model who in court went by Jane Doe 1. She testified that he attacked her after showing up uninvited to her hotel room during a Los Angeles film festival in 2013.

    “Jane Doe 1 is lying. Period,” Jackson said, pointing to the absence of evidence putting Weinstein at the scene. “Not a single witness can corroborate that Harvey Weinstein ever walked through that door.”

    He showed photos of Jane Doe 1 smiling as she interacted with director Quentin Tarantino on the following night of the festival, with Weinstein sitting just a few feet away.

    “This is not consistent with her having suffered the violence she suffered just hours before,” the lawyer said.

    Earlier on the night those pictures were taken, according to the allegations, Weinstein trapped model Lauren Young in a hotel bathroom, groped her and masturbated in front of her during what was supposed to be a meeting about a script she’d written.

    Jackson said the meeting was real but she had fabricated most of the rest, focusing on what he said were the impossible details of her being locked in the bathroom by a woman on the outside, and the room having a sliding door where photos proved it didn’t.

    “None of it makes sense, because she’s making it up,” Jackson said.

    The Associated Press does not generally name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly or agree to be identified through their lawyers, as those named in this story have done. All of the women Weinstein is charged with assaulting are going by Jane Doe in court.

    The prosecution is set to give its final rebuttal Friday morning, after which jurors will begin deliberations.

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    Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: twitter.com/andyjamesdalton

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    For more on the Harvey Weinstein trial, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/harvey-weinstein

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  • Prosecutor: Weinstein a ‘degenerate rapist’ and ‘predator’

    Prosecutor: Weinstein a ‘degenerate rapist’ and ‘predator’

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    LOS ANGELES — Harvey Weinstein was a “predator” with unmistakable patterns who used his Hollywood power to lure women into meetings, sexually assault them and escape the consequences, a prosecutor said in closing arguments Wednesday at the former movie mogul’s Los Angeles trial.

    Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez said the accusers who testified during the trial entered Weinstein’s hotel suites or let him into their hotel rooms with no idea what awaited them.

    “Who would suspect that such an entertainment industry titan would be a degenerate rapist?” Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez said to jurors.

    She constantly emphasized the similarity of the testimony of the four women Weinstein is charged with raping or sexually assaulting and the four other accusers who testified to show his propensity for such acts.

    “These are eight women who do not know each other,” Martinez said, showing the jury a composite image of all of them on a screen. “They all describe the same conduct by the same man.”

    Weinstein’s attorneys have said, and are likely to argue in their own closing Thursday, that two of the women had consensual sex for career advancement with the movie producer. His attorneys have said the encounters with the other two women didn’t happen at all.

    After more than five weeks of testimony, jurors, who are expected to get the case Thursday, will be tasked with deciding on two counts of rape and five other counts of sexual assault dating from 2005 to 2013. Weinstein, 70, has pleaded not guilty.

    In her closing, Martinez outlined what she said were Weinstein’s consistent tactics across decades. He would arrange to meet with a woman at a hotel. Then he would find a way to bring her into his suite. He would then go from “charming and complimentary to aggressive and demanding,” she said, either masturbating in front of them, groping them or raping them, often finding ways to prevent them from leaving.

    “For this predator, hotels were his trap,” Martinez said. “Confined within those walls victims were not able to run from his hulking mass. People were not able to hear their screams, they were not able to see them cower.”

    She noted that many of the women before their assaults were reassured by the presence of other women who worked with Weinstein. Those women would suddenly and unexpectedly leave the victims alone and isolated with him, Martinez said.

    “He used women to make these women feel comfortable,” Martinez said, “to get their guard down.”

    Three such women testified during the trial. All said they had little memory of the accusers or the meetings they had allegedly led them to, which Martinez called “convenient,” suggesting they had betrayed their fellow women.

    “Isn’t there a girl code?” Martinez said. “Apparently, if you know the defendant, there is no girl code.”

    She said that during the encounters, Weinstein ignored clear and repeated signs of lack of consent.

    She frequently harkened back to a line from a witness who seemed of minimal importance when he was on the stand, Weinstein’s LA limo driver Freddy Baroth, who testified that he was often ordered to run red lights when Weinstein was in a hurry, saying “when Harvey wants to go, you go.”

    “He didn’t care about ‘no’s,” Martinez said. ”He didn’t care about red lights.”

    She used variations of the image throughout her argument.

    Weinstein, sitting at the defense table, did not look across the courtroom at Martinez during her presentation, staring forward, looking at the screen she was projecting images on, and occasionally looking down to make notes.

    During their cross-examinations of the women, defense attorneys often challenged them over continued associations with Weinstein after their alleged assaults. Some met with him or emailed him again. Others attended parties and premieres at his invitation. A massage therapist who alleged he assaulted her after one treatment twice agreed to treat him again.

    Martinez urged jurors not to make too much of such choices by the women, saying they were the result of deliberate attempts by Weinstein to cover up what he had done to them.

    “If his victims were photographed at these parties,” she said, “if they took these meetings, how could they accuse him of sexual assault?”

    She said he used his power as much after the assaults as he did before and during them.

    “He used that power to live his life without the repercussions of his predatory behavior,” Martinez said.

    The proceedings have coincided with several trials on both coasts of Hollywood men with #MeToo implications, including the rape trial just down the hall of Danny Masterson, which was declared a mistrial while Martinez was giving her closing argument.

    ———

    Follow AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: twitter.com/andyjamesdalton

    ———

    For more on the Harvey Weinstein trial, visit: https://apnews.com/hub/harvey-weinstein

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