![\"Harvey](\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2020-02\/m7np61qg_harvey-weinstein-reuters_625x300_25_February_20.jpg\"\/ "\\"Harvey")
<\/div>\nHarvey Weinstein, 70, is appealing in both cases. (File)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Los Angeles: <\/b><\/p>\n
Former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was sentenced Thursday to 16 years in prison for the rape of a woman in a Beverly Hills hotel room a decade ago.<\/p>\n
The sentence was handed down by a Los Angeles court. Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence for his separate 2020 conviction in New York for sex crimes.<\/p>\n
It increases the likelihood that the Academy Award-winning “Shakespeare in Love” producer, 70, will spend the remainder of his life in prison — though he is appealing in both cases.<\/p>\n
In December, he was convicted by a Los Angeles jury of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by a foreign object of a European actress whose identity was not revealed.<\/p>\n
The court heard explicit accounts of meetings between the previously influential movie producer and several young women who were attempting to find a foothold in Hollywood.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors said Weinstein exploited and abused women for years, and long enjoyed impunity because of his then-powerful position in the industry.<\/p>\n
The women would have risked losing their future Hollywood job prospects if they had publicly accused Weinstein at the time, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n
Weinstein was ultimately convicted in the Los Angeles case of assaulting one woman, but acquitted of sexual battery involving a second.<\/p>\n
The jury did not reach a verdict on charges relating to the alleged assaults of two other women, one of whom was identified by her lawyers as Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the now-wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom.<\/p>\n
Weinstein’s lawyers had filed a defense motion requesting either a new trial or a reduced verdict, alleging they were precluded from admitting important evidence about the rape victim — including Facebook messages with an alleged lover which the judge deemed irrelevant — and that their cross-examination was limited.<\/p>\n
But Judge Lisa Lench denied the motion, and sentencing went ahead.<\/p>\n
In New York last June, Weinstein lost his first appeal against his criminal verdict and sentence in the state’s intermediate appellate court.<\/p>\n
But he has also further appealed that case to the higher New York Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n
#MeToo<\/strong><\/p>\n Weinstein’s behaviour had been the topic of rumours in entertainment circles for years, but his power player status in Hollywood ensured few were willing to publicly call him out.<\/p>\n Bombshell allegations broke against him in 2017, launching the #MeToo movement and paving the way for hundreds of women to fight back against sexual violence in the workplace.<\/p>\n Dozens of women have now accused Weinstein of predatory behaviour.<\/p>\n After his conviction in New York, a civil trial awarded $17 million to dozens of other women who had accused the former movie magnate of abuse.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, the European actress who Weinstein was convicted of raping in Los Angeles also sued him for damages.<\/p>\n The civil case alleges sexual battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.<\/p>\n “The conduct of Defendant Weinstein was despicable, and done with malice, oppression and fraud, thus justifying an award of punitive damages against him,” her lawsuit says.<\/p>\n (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\nFeatured Video Of The Day<\/h3>\n