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Harvey Weinstein found guilty in 2 of 5 charges in rape trial

Found not guilty on most serious charges
Posted at 11:37 AM, Feb 24, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-24 12:59:44-05

Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty on two of the five counts levied against him in a New York rape trial.

He was found guilty of criminal sex act for assaulting production assistant Mimi Haleyi at his apartment in 2006 and third-degree rape of a woman in 2013.

According to ABC News, the judge remanded Weinstein into custody without bail following Monday's proceedings. Weinstenin will be sentenced on March 11.

According to CNBC, Weinstein could face a sentence of between five and 25 years in prison for the first-degree sex act assault conviction, and between probation and four years in prison for the third-degree rape conviction.

The jury found him not guilty on the most serious charge, predatory sexual assault, that could result in a life sentence.

The verdict comes after a jurors' note to the judge late Friday indicated that they were hung on two counts of the predatory sexual assault charges.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said in a press conference following the verdict that he hopes the outcome of the case encourages more women to come forward to report their assaults in New York and across the country.

“Rape is rape and sexual assault is sexual assault, no matter what,” Vance said.

Attorney Gloria Allred, who represented Haleyi as well as other women who testified in the trial, called her clients "heroes of the women's movement."

"Women were believed," Allred said.

Moments later, Allred encouraged other women who are victims of sexual assault to come forward.

"Juries are beginning to believe you and convict," she said.

The 12-person jury, comprised of seven men and five women, began deliberating the five criminal counts levied against Weinsten last Tuesday.

Three women have played a key role in the trial in accusing Weinstein of sexual misconduct — Miriam "Mimi" Haleyi, Jessica Mann and Annabella Sciorra.

Prosecutors alleged Weinstein sexually assaulted Sciorra more than 25 years ago. Although her sex assault allegations fell outside the statute of limitations, her testimony is being used in the two counts of predatory sexual assault.

New York state law indicates that a predatory sexual assault conviction could carry a punishment up to life in prison.

Weinstein also faces a rape charge in California, which is slated to go to trial soon.

Weinstein, producer of dozens of major Hollywood films, has been accused by dozens of women in entertainment of sexually harassing, assaulting or raping them. Allegations against Weinstein surfaced in 2017 in pieces in The New York Times and The New Yorker where a number of women came forward with the allegations.

This story is breaking and will be updated.