Harvey Weinstein, former film producer, has been found guilty of a felony sex crime and rape following his trial.
Six women testified that Weinstein had sexually assaulted them. The criminal charges held against were in relation to two of them.
The jury, composed of five women and seven men, reached their verdict after five days of consideration.
However, Weinstein was acquitted of the two top charges of predatory assault made against him.
He was found guilty of two counts, a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree.
Weinstein’s defender, Donna Rotunno, questioning resulted in one accuser having a panic attack in court.
The trial has been considered as a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement, with the New York Times referring to it as “a crucial test in the effort to hold powerful men accountable for sexual harassment in the workplace.”
Defence lawyers said that the women in question had sex with Weinstein consensually, and that they only remembered their relations as non-consensual following news reports of his behaviour.
Weinstein was referred to as a “clever predator” by the prosecution, who noted that he had used his status in the film world as leverage.
In 2015 Weinstein avoided prosecution against a groping incident, however, he was indicted in New York in 2018 when women came forward to accuse him.
The conditions of his sentence are not yet known.
