Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, was cross-examined Tuesday by Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer.
Three weeks into Weinstein’s rape and sexual assault trial in Los Angeles, the judge dropped four of the 11 charges at prosecutors’ request.
Beverly Hills Hotel Room Incident
Mark Werksman, Weinstein’s lawyer, questioned Siebel Newsom about her dreams regarding the Beverly Hills hotel room incident.
“Have you had trouble separating a nightmare from a Peninsula Hotel room?”
Werksman questioned. Siebel Newsom said, “No.”
She claimed the additional parts of her testimony. Some of them she mentioned under oath on Monday, were the consequence of having more time to understand what transpired.
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Siebel Newsom; “As it’s become closer and more genuine, I need to explain and be more explicit. I kept everything in a box and have been slowly sharing since it’s so traumatic.”
Siebel Newsom didn’t expect Werksman’s first contacts with police and prosecutors in 2020 would lead to charges.
Siebel Newsom volunteered to speak to investigators to encourage other women not to testify.
She cried, like she did on Tuesday, but not as much as during her dramatic testimony on Monday.
“You’re the wife of the governor of California at the moment, and you’re going to meet with the police and a deputy district attorney,” Werksman said.
Siebel Newsom’s claims Time-Barred
She said, “I was stating the truth and didn’t know the consequence.”
Werksman said Siebel Newsom had consenting intercourse with Weinstein to improve her career.
During his questioning, he claimed her evidence revealed she didn’t make her lack of consent obvious. Werksman showed her cordial emails she wrote to Weinstein in the years that followed, which he argued were not from a raped woman.
She said she had put the attack out of her mind and that the conversations were necessary for a young performer like her.
“I was surviving,” she replied.
Real Name is Not Revealed
Siebel Newsom is going by the name Jane Doe at the trial. Like the others with whom Weinstein is charged with rape or sexual assault, her real name is not being spoken in court.
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Both the prosecution and the defence have identified her as the governor’s wife during the trial, and her attorney confirmed it to the AP and other news outlets.
Last week’s re-elected governor was not in court for his wife’s testimony.
She’ll be the last of Weinstein’s four accusers to testify after a judge dismissed charges against a fifth.
Lench rejected two charges of forceful rape and forcible oral copulation against Weinstein.
Four of Weinstein’s Accusers
In their opening comments, prosecutors only named four of Weinstein’s accusers, leaving out Jane Doe.
Initially, prosecutors retained the charges and left open the possibility that Jane Doe might testify. Before Tuesday’s hearing, Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson told the court that they would no longer go after the counts.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has not explained why they excluded the lady from the trial.
Weinstein, who is serving a 23-year term in New York, faces two rape and five sexual assault charges.
He has pleaded not guilty and denied nonconsensual sex.
