Harvey Weinstein verdict: Jennifer Siebel Newsom says producer raped her, though jury disagreed; Gavin Newsom says: ‘So incredibly proud of my wife’

Harvey Weinstein is a “serial robber” and rapist, Jennifer Siebel Newsom said today after a Los Angeles jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on the accused producer’s guilt for the 2005 assault on her.

“Harvey Weinstein would never be able to rape another woman,” California’s first partner claimed in a statement sent within minutes of the mixed verdict on Monday. “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.”

Already in prison, Weinstein, who was convicted on three counts and now faces 18 to 24 years in state prison, was acquitted of another count of sexual abuse and the jury deadlocked on three more counts. This latest round of charges all related to Jane Doe #4, aka Siebel Newsom.

An often emotional Siebel Newsom spoke at the booth in mid-November and her first meetings with the once powerful pulp fictiona producer nearly two decades ago, and the alleged attack on the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills 17 years ago when she was a relatively young actress/filmmaker. “I could tell he just needed it, he was so determined, just so scary, it was all about him and his pleasure, his need for satisfaction, so I just did it to make it stop,” Siebel said. to the Newsom jury, judge said. Lisa Lench, attorneys and bystanders on Nov. 14 of Weinstein and the alleged rape that occurred a few years before her marriage to then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. attacking the masturbating Weinstein after he inserted his “weird and messed up” penis into her.

In the defense’s closing argument on December 1, defense attorney Alan Jackson focused on Siebel Newsom’s testimony and derided it in court as “a theatrical, overdramatized performance.” “Jane Doe #4 cannot imagine that she is a successful, educated, well-mannered, cultured woman who had consensual sex with Harvey Weinstein in exchange for opportunity and access,” said the partner at Werksman Jackson & Quinn LLP. of reasonable doubt emphasized for the council of eight men and four women.

Siebel Newsom, considered a critical witness by both the LA County Attorney’s Office and the defense, addressed the Weinstein team’s tactics in her statement today.

“During the trial, Weinstein’s lawyers used sexism, misogyny and harassment to intimidate, humiliate and ridicule our survivors,” she said. “This process was a powerful reminder that as a society we have a lot to do. To all the survivors out there – I see you, I hear you and I stand by your side.

In addition to California’s first partner, who commented on Monday’s mixed ruling, the governor of California also had something to say. “I am so incredibly proud of my wife and all the brave women who have come out to share their truth and lift up countless survivors who cannot,” Gavin Newsom said this afternoon. “Her strength, courage and conviction are a powerful example and an inspiration to us all. We must continue to fight to ensure that survivors are supported and that their voices are heard.”

Weinstein, who faced a maximum of 60 years to life, plus five if convicted, was charged with two counts of rape and five counts of sexual assault in LA County incidents from 2004 to 2013. After a damning 2017- revelation by the New York Times and dozens of allegations spanning more than 40 years, the 70-year-old pulp fiction In March 2020, the producer was convicted and sentenced by a Manhattan jury to 23 years in prison for multiple sex crimes. This case is currently on appeal to the Empire State.

Weinstein was extradited to the Golden State in the summer of 2021 and for the first time faced 140 years behind bars if convicted in the LA case. However, the grand jury’s original 11 counts of sexual assault last year were reduced on Nov. 15 when the four counts related to Jane Doe #5 were dropped from the case. With testimony from eight women who claim Weinstein sexually assaulted them, including Siebel Newsom and three other Jane Does, criminal proceedings began on October 24 in LA Superior Court Judge Lench’s court. The case officially went to the jury for deliberation on December 2.

Weinstein will be sentenced in the new year after tomorrow’s hearing on what prosecutors call “aggravating factors”.

Deadline’s Armando Tinoco contributed to this report