The name that keeps coming up during deliberations at Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial – Annabella Sciorra – will be front and center again on Friday when jurors hear a reading of a large portion of her testimony.
The jury had asked the judge, prior to ending their third day of deliberations, if they could review the cross-examination of the Sopranos actress and any follow-up questioning by prosecutors.
Prior to hearing the testimony on Friday, Weinstein’s lawyer Donna Rotunno angrily squared off against attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing some of the alleged victims.
Rotunno approached Allred, who was sitting in the front row of the public gallery, and could be seen pointing her finger and whispering furiously at her.
‘Don’t discuss my personal life,’ Rotunno said, before Allred hit back that she was ‘distorting the facts’.
Rotunno addressed the matter before the judge and said Allred had ‘announced to the media’ that she has to attend a funeral. Court proceedings are scheduled to conclude about two hours earlier than normal so Rotunno can attend the funeral.
Weinstein’s lawyer said Allred discussing her personal life was ‘out of line’ and ‘unprofessional’.
‘It’s not someone in my family – to put those people the position where their lives are potentially out there is wrong. She doesn’t care about what’s wrong. It’s horrible behavior to talk about personal lives,’ Rotunno said.
The judge made no comment and did not rebuke Allred.
Harvey Weinstein arrived at court in New York on Friday for the fourth day of jury deliberations in his rape trial
Prior to hearing the testimony on Friday, Weinstein’s lawyer Donna Rotunno angrily squared off against attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing some of the alleged victims. Rotunno accused Allred of speaking out publicly about her private life
The testimony the jury will re-hear is expected to take up most of the morning on day four of the deliberations.
The jury of seven men and five women has already focused on emails that Weinstein sent regarding Sciorra, including ones to the private Israeli spy agency he allegedly enlisted to dig up dirt on would-be accusers as reporters were working on stories about allegations against him in 2017.
Sciorra was the first accuser to testify and took the witness stand nearly a month ago, telling jurors how the once-powerful movie mogul showed up unexpectedly at the door of her Manhattan apartment before barging in and raping and forcibly performing oral sex on her in late 1993 or early 1994.
Sciorra was the first accuser to testify and took the witness stand nearly a month ago, telling jurors Weinstein raped her in her Manhattan apartment in late 1993 or early 1994
On cross-examination Sciorra was grilled about why she opened her door in the first place and didn’t find a way to escape if she was under attack.
Weinstein’s lawyer Donna Rotunno asked: ‘Why didn’t you try to run out of the apartment? Did you scratch him? Try to poke him in the eyes?’
‘He was too big’ to fight off, Sciorra said at one point. ‘He was frightening.’
Weinstein is charged with five counts stemming from the allegations of Sciorra and two other women – aspiring actress Jessican Mann who says he raped her in 2013 and former production assistant Mimi Haleyi who says he forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006.
While Sciorra’s accusation is too old to be charged on its own because of the statute of limitations, it is a key component of the most serious charges that jurors are weighing in the closely watched #MeToo case.
Her rape allegation is the basis for two counts of predatory sexual assault – a charge that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
To convict Weinstein of that charge, jurors must agree on two things: that Weinstein raped Sciorra and that he committed one of the other charged offenses related to Mann or Haleyi.
He is also facing two rape charges for Mann’s accusations and a criminal sexual assault charge for Haleyi’s forced oral sex allegation.
Weinstein arrived at the court with his lead defense attorney Donna Rotunno on Friday morning
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi (left) in 2006 and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann (right) in 2013
In previous days, the jury sent a flurry of notes requesting to rehear testimony and see pieces of evidence that marked the first two days of deliberations.
The jury first signaled their interest in Sciorra on Tuesday when they sent a note seeking clarity on why Weinstein wasn’t charged with other crimes stemming from her allegation. The judge told them that they ‘must not speculate as to any other charges that are not before you’.
Jurors finished Wednesday’s round of deliberations by revisiting actress Rosie Perez’s testimony about what she says Sciorra told her soon after the alleged rape.
Perez said her friend Sciorra had told her at some point in 1993, her voice shaking on the phone, that something had happened to her: ‘I think it was rape.’
Perez testified that months later, on a phone call from London, Sciorra said Weinstein was harassing her and she was scared.
‘I said, ‘He’s the one that raped you’,’ and they both began crying, Perez testified.
‘Please go to the police,’ Perez said she told Sciorra. She said Sciorra responded: ‘I can’t – he’d destroy me.’