Harvey Weinstein's lawyer said Sunday he does not plan to testify at his sex crimes retrial in New York.
This means that a jury will soon get a case against a former film studio executive who initiated the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment.
Arthur Aidala said Sunday evening that the court would move to closing arguments Tuesday without Weinstein's testimony.
The court hears other cases on Mondays.
It is unclear whether jury deliberations will begin Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday.
It was a difficult decision for Weinstein, who had never answered questions in open court about any of the allegations made by the women. He did not testify in previous trials in New York and California and was convicted in both cases.
He denies the charges, and Mr. Aidala's lawyer said Weinstein had thought long and hard about whether to testify this time.
While his appeal in California is pending, Weinstein won a new trial for rape and sexual assault in New York when the state's highest court overturned his 2020 conviction.
In New York, he is charged with raping Jessica Mann in 2013 and forcing oral sex on Miriam Haleyi and Kaia Sokola separately in 2006.
Ms. Mann was an actress and hairdresser, Ms. Haley was a production assistant and producer, and Ms. Sokola was a model who aspired to an acting career.
All three women testified for days at the retrial, giving emotional and graphic accounts of what they said they endured at the hands of a powerful man who promised to help them achieve their show business dreams but then lured them into their private lives and began to attack them.
His lawyers argue that everything that happened between him and his accusers was consensual.
In the United States, criminal defendants are not required to testify, and many choose not to do so for a variety of reasons.
Among them: the prospect of interrogation by prosecutors.
Weinstein watched the retrial in New York closely from the defense table, occasionally shaking his head in response to accusers' testimony and often leaning toward one or another of his lawyers to make his points.
One of the lawyers, Mr. Aidala, said outside court on Thursday that Weinstein believed there were many holes in the accusers' testimony, but he also wondered whether jurors would find it necessary to hear his words.
The jury heard several more defense witnesses, including one from a transcript read by court staff.
Witness Talitha Maya testified at the 2020 trial but was unavailable this time, so jurors were able to read her earlier testimony instead on Friday.
One court stenographer read out the lawyers' questions for the 2020 trial, while another stenographer sat in the witness box and recorded Ms. Maya's answers, sometimes with an accent.
In 2013, Maya and Mann were roommates and friends, but later broke up.
According to Maya, Mann never mentioned that Weinstein had hurt her in any way during those days.
Both Ms. Maya and another witness, Thomas Richards, met with Ms. Mann and Weinstein shortly after Ms. Mann said she was raped.
Both witnesses said they did not notice anything suspicious.
Mr. Richards, who was subpoenaed and said he did not want to be seen as a Weinstein supporter, recalled that Ms. Mann and Weinstein had a “friendly conversation” over dinner that he shared with them that day.
Earlier this month, Ms. Mann testified that she never told police or anyone else about Weinstein's sexual assault because she did not think they would believe her and was afraid of his possible reaction.
Weinstein's defense also brought in Ms. Sokola's friend Helga Samuelsen, who also has friendly ties to the former producer.
On Thursday, Ms. Samuelsen testified that Weinstein visited Ms. Sokola once and spent about half an hour with her in a bedroom in a New York apartment the women briefly shared in 2005; Ms. Sokola told jurors that nothing of the sort happened.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually assaulted, but Ms. Sokola, Ms. Mann and Ms. Haley gave permission for their names to be published.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
