Harvey Weinstein Will Not Testify at Los Angeles Sex Crimes Trial
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Harvey Weinstein is not expected to take the stand at his trial in Los Angeles, where he has pleaded not guilty to seven charges related to the alleged assaults of four women between 2003 and 2014. Mark Werksman, Weinstein’s attorney, told Judge Lisa B. Lench on Monday morning that his client would not be testifying. “I want you to understand that you have an absolute right to testify,” Lench told Weinstein, who confirmed he understood. A spokesperson for Weinstein declined to comment on Monday’s developments to The Daily Beast. The disgraced mogul similarly declined to testify at his 2020 trial in New York City, where he was handed a 23-year sentence after he was convicted of third-degree rape and one count of criminal sexual act in the first degree, both felonies. In August, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled to allow Weinstein to attempt an appeal of his conviction there, raising the stakes in Los Angeles, where prosecutors rested their case just before Thanksgiving. Their case concluded after four weeks of often harrowing testimony from 44 witnesses.