(New York) One of the accusers of Harvey Weinstein melted in tears and uttered insults at the witnesses mark on Friday, while a defense lawyer questioned his version of the facts that the former Hollywood magnate forced him to fellatio almost twenty years ago.
Posted at 5:05 p.m.
Michael R. Associated Press
“It was he who raped me, not the other way around,” said Miriam Haley to jurors.
“It is up to the jury to decide,” replied Jennifer Bonjean, the lawyer for Weinstein.
“No, it’s not up to the jury to decide. This is my experience. And it was he who did this to me, ”added Mr.me Haley, launching swears while tears were starting to sink on his face.
Judge Curtis Farber interrupted the interrogation and asked the jurors to take a break. Miriam Haley, red eyes and shiny face, did not look at Weinstein when leaving the witnesses bar. From the age of 48, she testified for the fourth time at the Weinstein rape trial. The interrogation resumed after the break, Mme Haley remaining calm, with a few notes of frustration in his voice.
Me Bonjean continued to question her about the details she remembered and which she did not remember the alleged assault in July 2006 and her consequences, especially once, a few weeks later, when Miriam Haley said he had sex with Weinstein against her will, but without fighting.
“You didn’t say,” Say, what you did to me the other evening was not cool? ” Asked the defense lawyer. “No,” replied the complainant, repeating that she had remained “numb” during the hotel meeting.
The complainant pushed into her entrenchments
Harvey Weinstein is accused of sexual assault on Miriam Haley and another woman, and rape on a third. He denies the accusations and his lawyers argue that his accusers had relations granted with the film producer then influential, which could advance their careers.
Mme Haley, also known as Mimi Haley, is the first accuser to testify during the new trial, who comes after a court of appeal canceled Weinstein’s conviction during a previous trial. The testimony ofme Haley during this 2020 trial had only lasted one day.
Miriam Haley alleges that Weinstein assaulted her after inviting her to his home for, in his own words, “just pass to say hello”. She had briefly worked as a production assistant on the reality TV show “Project Runway”, produced by Weinstein.
She testified earlier in the week that Weinstein had pushed her into a bedroom and pushed on a bed, now lying it when she was trying to get up and pleaded: “No, no, that will not happen. »»
-Photo John Angelillo, agency France-Presse
Harvey Weinstein at his trial
Miriam Haley and two of her friends testified that she had told them shortly after the alleged facts that Weinstein had sexually assaulted her. The complainant claims to have never been interested in a sex or in love with the producer, despite her past advances, but wanted her help to find work in the environment of entertainment.
Focusing on alleged assault, Jennifer Bonjean asked on Friday why Mme Haley had agreed to go to Weinstein’s apartment after what the witness described as “bizarre” and “dominant” behavior, especially her emergence at home a few weeks earlier when he sought to persuade her to accompany her in Paris.
Mme Haley explained that she had no reason to refuse Weinstein’s request to go to her apartment, that she thought he would be stuck to refuse and that she was not afraid for her safety, even after her previous behavior.
It has become more sensitive when Mme Bonjean asked her how she undressed before Weinstein tears her a stamp and forces her to make her fellatio. The complainant said that Harvey Weinstein had removed her clothes from her, but she did not remember details: “You know, I was, busy struggling,” she said.
“You have undone, right?” »Asked, Me Bonjean, which gave rise to a stormy and tearful exchange.
“You wanted to appease it”
Earlier, the defense lawyer insisted on the trip of Mme Haley in Los Angeles at the expense of the Weinstein Society at the time. “Did you just think he was generous?” Asked Jennifer Bonjean.
Miriam Haley explained that she had accepted in part because she wanted to “reconnect with her good graces” after declining the previous invitation to Paris and the trip to Los Angeles seemed more appropriate to her, because she would travel alone and could also visit a friend.
“You wanted to appease him, please him, that he appreciates you?” asked me Bonjean. Well, that too, ”replied Mme Haley.
The new Harvey Weinstein trial includes charges related to Miriam Haley and another accuser of the initial trial, Jessica Mann, who alleged rape in 2013. The fallen producer is also tried, for the first time, for having allegedly imposed a blowjob at the old model Kaja Sokola in 2006.
Mmes Mann and Sokola should also testify.
The Associated Press generally does not appoint people who claim to have been sexually assaulted, unless they allow the publication of their name. Miriam Haley, Jessica Mann and Kaja Sokola did it.
