Harvey Weinstein waved at Rosie Perez as she prepared to give evidence against him in rape trial
‘Do The Right Thing’ actress called to the stand as witness
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Harvey Weinstein waved at Rosie Perez in court as she prepared to tell his rape trial about the communications she had with actress Annabella Sciorra in the 1990s when the Sopranos star said he had raped her.
Ms Perez delivered her dramatic testimony after being called to the stand as a witness for Weinstein’s criminal trial on Friday, where the fallen movie mogul waved as she identified him in court.
The Do the Right Thing actor testified that actor Annabella Sciorra told her in the mid-Nineties that Weinstein had allegedly raped her but that she couldn’t go to the police because “he’d destroy me”.
Perez said Sciorra, her friend, had told at some point in 1993, her voice shaking on the phone, that something had happened to her: “I think it was rape.”
The actor said she asked if Sciorra knew who had attacked her, but Sciorra wouldn’t say at the time. But months later, on another phone call from London, Perez said Sciorra named Weinstein.
“Please go to the police,” Perez said she told her friend. She said Sciorra responded: “I can’t — he’d destroy me.”
Defense lawyer Damon Cheronis pressed Perez on why she didn’t go to police, or to Sciorra’s home, when the actress first told her about the alleged assault.
“Because I was being respectful,” Perez said.
On Thursday, Sciorra told jurors that the then-powerful movie producer allegedly pushed his way into her New York apartment, pinned her on a bed and forced himself on her in 1993 or 1994.
She said Perez was one of a few people she told about the alleged encounter before coming forward publicly in 2017.
Weinstein has denied all allegations of non-consensual sex. He is accused of raping a woman in 2013 and performing a forcible sex act on another woman in 2006. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty. He has also denied retaliating against women.
Earlier on Friday, the prosecution called to the stand a forensic psychiatrist providing expert testimony on survivors of sexual assault – explaining for example that most sex assault victims continue to have contact with their attackers.
If convicted on the most serious charges, Weinstein could spend the rest of his life in prison. His trial is expected to last for at least three more weeks in New York City.
Additional reporting by agencies
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