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Harvey Weinstein will not testify as part of his criminal trial, though the former mogul wanted to take the stand.

On May 29, Arthur Aidala, Weinstein’s attorney, told reporters Weinstein was “seriously contemplating” taking that stand, but that his team would make a “game-time decision.” The team confirmed Monday that he would not take the stand, as it opens up Weinstein to undue risk, but said that Weinstein had still wanted to share his side of the story.

“He’s not hiding, and we’re not shielding him. He wants to testify, and we respect that. But the courtroom isn’t just about truth — it’s also strategy,” Juda Engelmayer, a spokesperson for Weinstein, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Instead, the trial will move to closing arguments Tuesday, with the defense expected to rest their case that morning, a little more than a month after opening arguments began April 23. Jurors will then get the case.

Harvey Weinstein doesn’t plan to testify at his sex crimes retrial in New York City.

Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala shared the news on Sunday, the Associated Press reported. The trial is set to proceed with closing arguments on Tuesday, as the court does not hear the case on Mondays.

Weinstein is charged with two counts of committing a criminal sexual act in the first degree and one count of third-degree rape. The charges stem from accusations by former model Kaja Sokola, former TV production assistant Miriam Haley — the first accuser to testify in Weinstein’s retrial — and former aspiring actor Jessica Mann. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

Weinstein’s defense began calling witnesses last week, and according to AP, the former movie mogul had been weighing whether to take the stand. On Friday, May 30, the jury heard from witness Talita Maia through a transcript read aloud by court staff.

After over a month of dramatic and emotional testimonies from six women who have come forward to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, as well as revelations from lengthy cross-examinations and rebuttal witnesses, the jury on Tuesday began deliberating the mogul’s fate in a Manhattan courthouse.

Though the seven-man, five-woman panel heard lengthy and impassioned closing arguments from the defense and prosecution last week, legal experts are divided on whether the jury has been convinced to convict or acquit the mogul of the five felony charges against him.

“It’s really tough to predict what a jury is going to do, especially in a case like this that is going to turn entirely upon witness credibility,” Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who now runs West Coast Trial Lawyers, told TheWrap. “Even though the law says the testimony of one witness is enough to prove any fact, some jurors...

Defence rests case; closing arguments to begin on Thursday.

Harvey Weinstein will not testify in his own defence at his rape trial, his lawyers said on Tuesday (11) as they rested their case.

Outside the presence of the jury, one of Weinstein’s lawyers told Justice James Burke that Weinstein would not be taking the stand in the trial that began in New York on January 6 and is a milestone in the #MeToo movement.

“That’s correct,” Weinstein confirmed when asked by the judge.

The defence rested its case shortly after this exchange, setting the stage for closing arguments to begin on Thursday.

The defense in the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct trial in New York rested its case today without calling the accused ex-Hollywood mogul to the witness stand. Final arguments begin Thursday.

Though the likelihood of speaking in his own defense diminished as the evidence portion of the trial drew to its close over the last few days, at least some small possibility remained before today.

Weinstein team spokesman Juda S. Engelmayer was asked by reporters whether Weinstein himself wanted to testify, as has been speculated, against the wishes of his team, but answered that the reporters should “wait five minutes” as Weinstein huddled with his lawyers behind closed doors.

When both sides, and the jury, returned to the courtroom, Weinstein attorney Damon Cheronis told New York Supreme Court Judge James Burke that the defense rested its case. “The state hasn’t met their burden and he’s not going to testify,...

Harvey Weinstein will not testify in his rape trial in New York City, his defense team said on Tuesday. The announcement came as Weinstein’s lawyers rested their case after putting on four days of testimony.

After consulting with Weinstein on Tuesday morning, attorney Damon Cheronis informed the court of his decision.

“The state hasn’t met their burden and he’s not going to testify,” Cheronis said.

The last witness to take the stand was Tommy Lozano, a friend of Jessica Mann, the primary accuser in the case. Lozano told jurors on Tuesday that Mann seemed “normal” on the morning after she claims Weinstein raped her at the DoubleTree Hotel in New York in March 2013.

Lozano said he had breakfast with Mann and Weinstein at the hotel cafe. Under questioning from defense attorney Arthur Aidala, Lozano said that Mann seemed like “her everyday self.” He said that Mann and...

A witness for Harvey Weinstein’s defense testified on Tuesday morning that Jessica Mann — one of the main accusers in the mogul’s criminal trial — was acting “normal” around the time after she alleged she was raped by Weinstein.

Mann, whose accusations make up some of the charges against Weinstein, testified that at the DoubleTree Hotel in New York around March 2013, Weinstein violently raped her before she was supposed to have a breakfast meeting with two friends and Weinstein. Tuesday’s witness, Thomas Richards, was one of the friends who attended the breakfast meeting.

Richards said Mann did not seem to be in any sort of distress and that she was acting like her “everyday self.”

During a relatively brief cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi asked Richards about his drinking the night before the breakfast meeting. He acknowledged that he had gone out to bars and came back to...

Brazilian-born actress Talita Maia tells court she was testifying against her wishes under subpoena.

A former friend of Jessica Mann, one of the accusers in the Harvey Weinstein rape trial, told jurors on Monday (10) that Mann did not show any signs of distress on the day the former Hollywood producer allegedly attacked her.

Mann testified earlier in the trial that Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel room one morning in March 2013.

Brazilian-born actress Talita Maia (pictured) told the jury on Monday that she spent the rest of that day with Mann, and that Mann did not say anything about...

Talita Maia, an actress, former friend and roommate of Harvey Weinstein accuser Jessica Mann, testified today that at no time did Mann appear to be disturbed or upset about Weinstein, even on the night Mann alleges she was raped by the Hollywood producer while Maia was just outside his bedroom door.

And in what was another critical hit against prosecution witnesses, model and social media influencer Claudia Salinas — who Weinstein accuser Lauren Young says helped lure her to Weinstein’s hotel room and then locked her in a bathroom with the naked mogul — flatly denied the event ever happened.

“Absolutely not,” said Salinas, a social media influencer in the fashion arena. “I would never do that. I would never close the door behind anyone.” Salinas denied that she’d ever been alone with Young and Weinstein in a hotel suite, and that she had never seen Weinstein naked, contrary to Young’s testimony last week.

Talita Maia, a former roommate and friend of Jessica Mann — one of the main accusers in Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial — said that Mann often spoke fondly of Weinstein and could not recall her being upset after incidents in which Mann has alleged Weinstein sexually assaulted her.

Mann, who testified over the course of three days earlier this month, said that Maia — also an aspiring actress at the time — was often around her during her early interactions with Weinstein. During an encounter with Weinstein in a Los Angeles hotel, Mann said that she and Maia were asked by Weinstein to go up to his room to receive scripts for a movie he thought they would be good for the lead roles. It was there that Mann alleges Weinstein told Maia to wait out in the hotel suite’s living area, pulled Mann into a bedroom, and performed oral sex on her without her consent.

Model Lauren Young has accused Harvey Weinstein of groping her, masturbating in front of her and ejaculating onto a towel in a Beverly Hills hotel bathroom in 2013.

Testifying on Wednesday afternoon in the disgraced mogul’s Manhattan criminal trial, Young appeared on the stand as the prosecution’s final “prior bad acts” witness. The model and then-aspiring actress said she had been invited by a friend of Weinstein’s — model Claudia Salinas — to meet up with the producer at the Montage Beverly Hills under the guise of discussing a script Young was working on at the time.

“I was excited to network and pitch my ideas,” Young, now 30 years old, said. “I put on my best dress.”

Eventually, after the group of three had a conversation at the hotel bar, Young said Weinstein told them he needed to bring the conversation up to his room because he had to get...

A front desk clerk said he was concerned for Jessica Mann’s safety when she checked in at the DoubleTree Hotel on March 18, 2013 with Harvey Weinstein. The hotel employee’s testimony could bolster prosecutors’ criminal case against the movie mogul.

Mann alleges the Weinstein raped her in his hotel room. Her allegations are a key component in the charges that Weinstein is facing, which include first-degree rape, third-degree rape and predatory sexual assault. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

Rothschild Capulong, a hotel employee who helped Weinstein check in when he arrived in the lobby around 10:30 a.m., recalled the movie producer entering the hotel with a “female companion.” He observed “discontent” between Weinstein and the woman, behavior so atypical that he made a notation in his end-of-shift report, which was sent to the head of security.

“I specifically wrote that security might want to check Mr. Weinstein at the room,...

Stars: Daniel O’Meara, Tiffany Adams, Juliette Beavan, Talulah Brown, Joelle Georgeff, Stephanie Girard, Ella Herman, Ria Huang, Stephanie Jones, Talita Maia, Brett R. Miller, Jackie Moore, Eric Roberts | Written by Eric Troop | Directed by Jim Lane, Eric Troop

Hiding under a mask of collected sanity, Alan is an aging actor with a serious serial killing hobby. His dark, reclusive world is blown open when a young, bubbly blonde moves in as a roommate. Her presence soon begins to further shake Alan’s already twisted psyche.

Deadly Famous is a story mainly told through Alan’s camera, which is ‘always rolling’. What it captures is Alan’s twisted life as he falls deeper and deeper into darkness (a darkness he is already pretty deep in, I might add) with the arrival of his new housemate. A little note to people looking for cheap housing: if the person posts the advert...