WEBVTT - Harvey Weinstein Trial Is a #MeToo Reckoning

0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:05.000
<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Law with June Grassoe from Bloomberg Radio.

0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:08.319
<v Speaker 1>The Harvey Weinstein trial is almost the definition of a

0:00:08.400 --> 0:00:12.879
<v Speaker 1>high profile trial. A former powerful Hollywood producer on trial

0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:16.239
<v Speaker 1>on charges of rape and sexual assault after more than

0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:20.119
<v Speaker 1>eighty women, including Hollywood actors, have publicly accused him of

0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:24.439
<v Speaker 1>sexual misconduct, kicking off the worldwide Me Too movement and

0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:28.080
<v Speaker 1>all that it generated. Weinstein arrived at the Lower Manhattan

0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:31.200
<v Speaker 1>Court House on Monday morning, surrounded by his lawyers and

0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:34.879
<v Speaker 1>a security team, and met by scores of photographers and

0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:39.360
<v Speaker 1>television cameras and about twenty women, including the actors Rosanna

0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.839
<v Speaker 1>Arquette and Rose McGowan, who both say they were abused

0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.600
<v Speaker 1>by Weinstein. As one of the silence bakers, I stand

0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:49.960
<v Speaker 1>in solidarity with the brave survivors who will take the

0:00:50.040 --> 0:00:55.800
<v Speaker 1>stand against Harvey Weinstein in this trial. I thank those

0:00:55.880 --> 0:01:00.960
<v Speaker 1>testifying for standing not just for themselves, but for all

0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:04.720
<v Speaker 1>of us who will never have even one day in courts.

0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:08.680
<v Speaker 1>Joining me as former federal prosecutor Laurie Levinson, a professor

0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:12.920
<v Speaker 1>at Loyola Law School, the scope of this trial encompasses

0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:17.520
<v Speaker 1>so much more than the allegations. Explain how that affects

0:01:17.560 --> 0:01:21.360
<v Speaker 1>what happens inside the courtroom. Well, the first question is

0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:24.000
<v Speaker 1>how it might affect the jurors who sit on this case.

0:01:24.360 --> 0:01:26.959
<v Speaker 1>A lot has changed since the beginning of the Harvey

0:01:27.000 --> 0:01:29.959
<v Speaker 1>Weinstein case, and I think people are much more alert

0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:33.360
<v Speaker 1>and much more sensitive to these issues, and that makes

0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:36.240
<v Speaker 1>it more likely that the accusers will be believed in

0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:39.039
<v Speaker 1>the courtroom, or even that the jurors might have some

0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:42.640
<v Speaker 1>type of agenda of convicting Harvey weinsteemed to send a

0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:45.840
<v Speaker 1>message the jurors are going to be hearing a very

0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:49.640
<v Speaker 1>narrow case, the charges resting largely on the testimony of

0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:53.800
<v Speaker 1>the two women Weinstein's charged with assaulting in two thousand

0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:57.360
<v Speaker 1>and six. But the judge is allowing the prosecution to

0:01:57.440 --> 0:02:01.760
<v Speaker 1>call other women, so called prior bad act witnesses, to

0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:06.960
<v Speaker 1>testify about how Weinstein allegedly assaulted them. Could that be

0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:10.480
<v Speaker 1>a game changer? Yes, that's likely to be a game changer.

0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:12.920
<v Speaker 1>And we know that from the Cosby case, which is

0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:17.520
<v Speaker 1>their strength in numbers, and that maybe one or two

0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:21.480
<v Speaker 1>women could be attacked on cross examination. But the prosecutor

0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.760
<v Speaker 1>always wants to show a pattern of conduct, not to

0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:27.760
<v Speaker 1>say that this was just sort of an isolated situation,

0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:32.520
<v Speaker 1>but to put it into context, so without those additional witnesses,

0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.400
<v Speaker 1>it makes it much more difficult to get a conviction.

0:02:36.040 --> 0:02:40.000
<v Speaker 1>Weinstein's lead attorney, Donna Rotuno, downplay the effect of the

0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:43.880
<v Speaker 1>number of accusers staying on CNN that it might actually

0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:47.560
<v Speaker 1>benefit the defense. I think in some ways that number

0:02:47.639 --> 0:02:50.360
<v Speaker 1>sort of helps us, because once the jury sits down

0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:53.760
<v Speaker 1>and the jury hears that this is only about two women,

0:02:54.080 --> 0:02:57.680
<v Speaker 1>I think they start to wonder how truthful those other

0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:01.000
<v Speaker 1>circumstances are, or if there were so many, why aren't

0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:03.760
<v Speaker 1>they a part of the criminal case. Is that just

0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:08.239
<v Speaker 1>trial lawyers bluster? I think that's wishful thinking. I mean,

0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:10.680
<v Speaker 1>it is true that the jurors are going to be

0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:14.200
<v Speaker 1>told that this is just being used for a narrow purpose.

0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:18.560
<v Speaker 1>It's also true that there are dozens more accusers out

0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:21.840
<v Speaker 1>there against Harvey Weinstein who are not having their cases

0:03:21.880 --> 0:03:24.600
<v Speaker 1>tried in the courtroom. And so she might be saying,

0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:27.600
<v Speaker 1>you know, ladies and gentlemen, there were a lot of

0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:30.520
<v Speaker 1>accusations out there, but they didn't bear enough truth to

0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:33.440
<v Speaker 1>be tried, and therefore you should be suspicious of the

0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:39.000
<v Speaker 1>ones before you. After dropping several lawyers Weinstein now has

0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:42.240
<v Speaker 1>a female defense attorney, and that sort of fits an

0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:45.920
<v Speaker 1>old troop. Does she have an advantage in cross examining

0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:48.920
<v Speaker 1>the women in this case in any respect? Well, the

0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:52.120
<v Speaker 1>optics can be slightly better. I mean, it doesn't look

0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:56.000
<v Speaker 1>good when you have men beating up on women making

0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:59.120
<v Speaker 1>accusations of sexual assault. It looks like the women are

0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:03.080
<v Speaker 1>being assaulted again. So just the optics might look better.

0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:06.200
<v Speaker 1>But I'm not sure how far that will carry her,

0:04:06.440 --> 0:04:10.520
<v Speaker 1>because at some point, if she gets tough in that examination,

0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:13.680
<v Speaker 1>what the jurors will hear and what they'll see are

0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:17.919
<v Speaker 1>the witnesses being attacked. Initially, I think that there's just

0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:22.760
<v Speaker 1>sort of this unconscious reaction by some people. Oh, if

0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:26.040
<v Speaker 1>a woman's representing an man, you know, there must be

0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:28.000
<v Speaker 1>a good reason. Why would she go out on a

0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:31.400
<v Speaker 1>limb to do that? But I think yours are pretty

0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.799
<v Speaker 1>sophisticated to know that it's not just about those optics.

0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:39.599
<v Speaker 1>Weinstein has released some emails that he and the alleged

0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:45.320
<v Speaker 1>rape victim exchanged for years after the attack, and his

0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:48.400
<v Speaker 1>lawyer said, these are women who have spent time with

0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:50.680
<v Speaker 1>him over periods of time, and I think we have

0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:54.120
<v Speaker 1>evidence to show that the time was nothing but positive

0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:58.520
<v Speaker 1>and favorable. Could those emails help him? But those emails,

0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:02.280
<v Speaker 1>frankly could help him if in fact the jury believed that,

0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:05.440
<v Speaker 1>they show that it was not a traumatic event, it

0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:09.279
<v Speaker 1>was consensual encounter, and that's why these women continued to

0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:13.120
<v Speaker 1>have contact with him. But again, I don't think it

0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:16.719
<v Speaker 1>would come as a big surprise to what jurors that

0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:21.159
<v Speaker 1>these women actually were forced into these contacts according to

0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:24.640
<v Speaker 1>the prosecution, and that they didn't have much choice to

0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:27.080
<v Speaker 1>stay in contact with him. They didn't have much choice

0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:31.160
<v Speaker 1>but to be nice to him because of the power differentiation. Here.

0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.719
<v Speaker 1>Here's a man who had tremendous power. That's how he

0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:37.360
<v Speaker 1>got what he wanted with them and continued to have

0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:40.560
<v Speaker 1>that contact. I've been talking to Professor Laurie Levinson of

0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:43.800
<v Speaker 1>Loyola Law School about the Harvey Weinstein trial, which is

0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:46.680
<v Speaker 1>now in jury selection. Laurie, it seems to me that

0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:49.400
<v Speaker 1>one of the impacts of the me too movement on

0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:53.320
<v Speaker 1>the trial is that jurors might better understand the power

0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.640
<v Speaker 1>dynamic that you were just discussing with regard to the

0:05:56.720 --> 0:06:00.600
<v Speaker 1>emails between Weinstein and one of his accusers. I do

0:06:00.720 --> 0:06:03.839
<v Speaker 1>think that that's been one of the great progress that's

0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:06.440
<v Speaker 1>come with Me Too movement, which is to sort of

0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:09.760
<v Speaker 1>give people a peek into the real world there that

0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.680
<v Speaker 1>women often do things that they don't want to do.

0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:16.320
<v Speaker 1>They don't complain, they go along with the game because

0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:18.560
<v Speaker 1>they didn't feel like they have much choice. And then

0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.640
<v Speaker 1>the more that came out of people in power and

0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.200
<v Speaker 1>in power that did this, the more sophisticated. I think

0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:29.760
<v Speaker 1>the populace became an understanding why women would say yes

0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:33.640
<v Speaker 1>when they don't really mean yes. You mentioned optics, and

0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:37.160
<v Speaker 1>on the first day of trial we saw the optics

0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:42.080
<v Speaker 1>of Harvey Weinstein going into court hobbling over a walker,

0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:47.039
<v Speaker 1>not looking like the Harvey Weinstein power broker of old.

0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:51.120
<v Speaker 1>Does that affect the jurors in anyway? It could. I

0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:53.640
<v Speaker 1>mean it's a defense one to try to exploit it

0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:56.000
<v Speaker 1>and say, you know, basically, he's just sort of a

0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:59.600
<v Speaker 1>feeble old man. He's not some type of sexual predator.

0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:02.800
<v Speaker 1>Just look at him. Then maybe some jurors would say

0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:06.960
<v Speaker 1>okay and even feel some sympathy. But again, I think

0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:09.920
<v Speaker 1>people are fairly sophisticated. I mean, one of the reasons

0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:12.600
<v Speaker 1>he looks like this is because of recent back surgery.

0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:15.800
<v Speaker 1>He didn't always look like this, and also, you know,

0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:20.840
<v Speaker 1>given his appearance, it might actually help the prosecution when

0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:24.400
<v Speaker 1>they argue this is not some suave guy that all

0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:27.600
<v Speaker 1>these women wanted to have a relationship with, and that

0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:31.800
<v Speaker 1>that would undercut the defense argument of consent. Now, Weinstein

0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:35.040
<v Speaker 1>is not expected to testify, and the jurors will be

0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:39.559
<v Speaker 1>told they can't consider that. But I always question whether

0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:42.080
<v Speaker 1>in the back of their minds, no matter what the

0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:46.880
<v Speaker 1>judge says, they do say, well, why didn't he testify? Well,

0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.960
<v Speaker 1>they won't say it that directly, but I do think

0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:52.520
<v Speaker 1>that we know that jurors sort of have in their mind,

0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:55.920
<v Speaker 1>you know, if he had something that would help him,

0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:58.320
<v Speaker 1>why wouldn't he let it be known? Like you said,

0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:02.000
<v Speaker 1>why wouldn't he testify? There's fisted enough not to say

0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:05.880
<v Speaker 1>that during jury deliberations, ordinarily because they've been instructed not

0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:09.320
<v Speaker 1>to do so. But how it factors into their individual

0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:12.800
<v Speaker 1>decision making, Yes, I do think that they still consider

0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.360
<v Speaker 1>that is there going to be a key moment in

0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:18.440
<v Speaker 1>the trial? Is there going to be testimony that the

0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:21.360
<v Speaker 1>trial sort of hangs on? Well, I think that the

0:08:21.440 --> 0:08:24.880
<v Speaker 1>key moments will be when the accusers, when the alleged

0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:28.600
<v Speaker 1>victims come forward and are actually on the witness stand,

0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.240
<v Speaker 1>and people not only hear what they have to say,

0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:34.439
<v Speaker 1>but see how they say it. That's how we often

0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:38.120
<v Speaker 1>evaluate who we believe in who we don't. So, um,

0:08:38.160 --> 0:08:40.480
<v Speaker 1>I think what is said from that witness stands going

0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:44.120
<v Speaker 1>to be key. Also, you know, ironically, even though it's

0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:48.400
<v Speaker 1>not evidence, how Harvey Weinstein responds while he's sitting in

0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:51.520
<v Speaker 1>that courtroom, we know that jurors will look at everything

0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:55.080
<v Speaker 1>in the courtroom. So if there's some type of unusual

0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:58.520
<v Speaker 1>response by win seeing during this trial, that could be

0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:02.320
<v Speaker 1>a key moment as well. And speaking about behavior in

0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:05.280
<v Speaker 1>the courtroom, what I find a little odd, and of

0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:09.000
<v Speaker 1>course there's no jury there yet. But the judge reprimanded

0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:14.000
<v Speaker 1>Weinstein for defying his earlier order banning him from texting

0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:17.199
<v Speaker 1>in the courtroom, saying he'd seen Weinstein with no fewer

0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.920
<v Speaker 1>than four cell phones in court on Tuesday morning and

0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:24.079
<v Speaker 1>warning him that he would be jailed if he flouted

0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:26.800
<v Speaker 1>the order again. Now, that's not how a defendant should

0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:29.480
<v Speaker 1>be behaving before a trial judge, is it. Well, you

0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:32.360
<v Speaker 1>certainly don't want to up set the judge. Um, the

0:09:32.440 --> 0:09:35.000
<v Speaker 1>judge has a lot of discretionary calls to make throughout

0:09:35.040 --> 0:09:38.240
<v Speaker 1>this trial, Jurors usually looked to the judge to sort

0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:41.840
<v Speaker 1>of take cues. How does the judge feel about this case? So,

0:09:42.000 --> 0:09:44.240
<v Speaker 1>getting the judge on the wrong sign this early in

0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:47.960
<v Speaker 1>the proceeding not a good thing to do. I want

0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:52.920
<v Speaker 1>to discuss for a moment the celebrity factor here, because

0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:55.920
<v Speaker 1>not only is a well known actress going to be

0:09:56.360 --> 0:10:00.640
<v Speaker 1>testifying as one of the so called prior bad Acts witnesses,

0:10:01.160 --> 0:10:04.439
<v Speaker 1>but some famous actresses say they're going to be sitting

0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.720
<v Speaker 1>in the courtroom. Also, the judge released a list of

0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:12.240
<v Speaker 1>possible witnesses, including actresses like Charlie's Farren. So how does

0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:16.439
<v Speaker 1>the celebrity factor play here? We know from prior cases

0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:20.720
<v Speaker 1>that there's quote a celebrity justice element. You know, which

0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.800
<v Speaker 1>way it goes depends on the case. But jurors realize

0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:28.120
<v Speaker 1>one thing, which is this is a really important case

0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.000
<v Speaker 1>and if it looks like there's a cheering section for

0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.079
<v Speaker 1>one side or the other, jurors will pick up on that. Now,

0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:36.880
<v Speaker 1>there's not supposed to be anything overtly done by the

0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:40.040
<v Speaker 1>people sitting in the trial, but it puts out a

0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:43.240
<v Speaker 1>pressure on the jurors. They know that their verdict will

0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:47.560
<v Speaker 1>be scrutinized, that there's a whole group out there, a constituency,

0:10:48.000 --> 0:10:52.080
<v Speaker 1>waiting to see how they rule. On Monday, as Weinstein

0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:56.240
<v Speaker 1>was about to go on trial, California state prosecutors charged

0:10:56.320 --> 0:10:59.240
<v Speaker 1>him with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in

0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:03.840
<v Speaker 1>twenty third team. Here's the Los Angeles District Attorney, Jackie Lacey.

0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:09.360
<v Speaker 1>My office has charged Harvey Weinstein with sexually assaulting two

0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:13.120
<v Speaker 1>women in Los Angeles County. We believe the evidence will

0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:17.280
<v Speaker 1>show that the defendant used his power and influence to

0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:21.200
<v Speaker 1>gain access to his victims and then committed violent crimes

0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.800
<v Speaker 1>against them. If convicted has charged in the case, defendant

0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:28.760
<v Speaker 1>Weinstein faces up to twenty eight years in state prison.

0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:32.280
<v Speaker 1>My office will ask the court to set bail at

0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:37.160
<v Speaker 1>five million dollars. Once the defendant's case is completed in

0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:40.000
<v Speaker 1>New York, we expect him to appear in a courtroom

0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:43.920
<v Speaker 1>in Los Angeles County to face these charges. Is the

0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:47.880
<v Speaker 1>timing suspicious? Oh? I think Actually? The district attorney said,

0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.000
<v Speaker 1>I didn't want to do it earlier because I didn't

0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:52.520
<v Speaker 1>want to interfere with the trial in New York but

0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:55.040
<v Speaker 1>I do think it's to the advantage of the Los

0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:58.040
<v Speaker 1>Angeles prosecutors to sort of wait and see what happens

0:11:58.040 --> 0:11:59.880
<v Speaker 1>in New York. First of all, if they get an

0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:02.720
<v Speaker 1>fiction in New York, they'll be able to use some

0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:06.480
<v Speaker 1>of maybe those witnesses as the prior acts and showing

0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.920
<v Speaker 1>the scheme. It could even force some type of plea deal,

0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:12.400
<v Speaker 1>although I think at this point not much of an

0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:16.120
<v Speaker 1>offer would be made to Weinstein. But equally important, if

0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:19.080
<v Speaker 1>they lose the case in New York, the prosecutors in

0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:23.200
<v Speaker 1>Los Angeles can learn from any mistakes. So yes, going

0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:27.360
<v Speaker 1>second and something like this has its strategic advantages. So

0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:32.080
<v Speaker 1>for Weinstein, he'll be fighting one set of charges in court,

0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:35.199
<v Speaker 1>and Nose he has to face another set of charges

0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.720
<v Speaker 1>in another state, facing more jail time. Is there a

0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:42.720
<v Speaker 1>psychological factor here, I think so. I mean it just

0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:44.800
<v Speaker 1>wears him down. There's no light at the end of

0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:48.040
<v Speaker 1>the tunnel, you know, because even if he wins this one,

0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.800
<v Speaker 1>he's going to go through it all over again. And

0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:56.080
<v Speaker 1>it just becomes very apparent that nobody's backing down from this.

0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:59.040
<v Speaker 1>You know. When it initially started, I think there was

0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:02.080
<v Speaker 1>a thought that well, okay, there'll be a few will

0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:05.760
<v Speaker 1>swap them away, but eventually this will go away. Just

0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:08.880
<v Speaker 1>how long it will take to get through these proceedings

0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:12.160
<v Speaker 1>for the next five ten years of Harvey Weinstein's case,

0:13:12.520 --> 0:13:16.760
<v Speaker 1>it's all about these trials. Now, many people are expecting

0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:21.719
<v Speaker 1>a conviction here. But in the past, we've seen many cases,

0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:24.520
<v Speaker 1>and you and I both cover the O. J. Simpson

0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:27.560
<v Speaker 1>trial where you think there's going to be a conviction

0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:32.400
<v Speaker 1>but the jury quits. Oh. Absolutely, that's the nature of trials.

0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:36.760
<v Speaker 1>You know, expect the unexpected, especially in a high visibility case.

0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:40.000
<v Speaker 1>And as you mentioned, there's o J. There's Michael Jackson,

0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:43.680
<v Speaker 1>the Robert Blake, the list goes on. So I don't

0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:46.640
<v Speaker 1>think anybody should sort of say this is a done deal.

0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:51.880
<v Speaker 1>The lawyers before Harvard Wayne seemed very good lawyer, very prepared. Uh,

0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:56.280
<v Speaker 1>these are the types of cases where surprises can happen. Um,

0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:59.040
<v Speaker 1>we just don't know. But that's the nature of the

0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:02.079
<v Speaker 1>trial system. That's why we meet a trial, not just

0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:05.480
<v Speaker 1>an allegation, not just headlines. But we need a trial.

0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:09.680
<v Speaker 1>So in this case, what is a little unusual is

0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:13.560
<v Speaker 1>that the prosecution is not going to be calling police

0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:17.680
<v Speaker 1>to testify. Indeed, it may be that the defense calls

0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:23.200
<v Speaker 1>police to try to discredit the charges against Weinstein. Is

0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:25.680
<v Speaker 1>that a good move by the defense to try to

0:14:25.720 --> 0:14:30.760
<v Speaker 1>turn the police against the prosecution. The best defense in

0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:33.680
<v Speaker 1>some cases is a good offense, and that's kind of

0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:35.920
<v Speaker 1>what they've been trying to do in this case, which

0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:40.200
<v Speaker 1>is to challenge the investigation, challenge the police. So far

0:14:40.280 --> 0:14:43.160
<v Speaker 1>the judges shut them down, but I think that they'll

0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:46.520
<v Speaker 1>continue to try to bring out the problems and the investigation.

0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:50.120
<v Speaker 1>That was a key strategy. Frankly, in the O. J.

0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:52.560
<v Speaker 1>Simpson case, even when people thought there was a d

0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:55.160
<v Speaker 1>n A, they put the L A P. D on trial.

0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.720
<v Speaker 1>So I think it is a defense that can work

0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:01.440
<v Speaker 1>on the other and I think it's smart by the

0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:05.600
<v Speaker 1>prosecutors not to play into that. Say we're not putting

0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:08.440
<v Speaker 1>our police on We're going to put on the actual victims.

0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.120
<v Speaker 1>We're going to make this jury look these women in

0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:16.360
<v Speaker 1>the eye and then make their decision. Finally, Laurie, everyone says, well,

0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:19.280
<v Speaker 1>things have changed so much, But when you look at

0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:22.960
<v Speaker 1>this trial, and you know, most rape accusations still don't

0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:25.840
<v Speaker 1>make it to court. Are the legal challenges the same?

0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:29.120
<v Speaker 1>Do you still have? Uh? He said, she said in

0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:33.000
<v Speaker 1>the defense saying it was consensual. That is a basic

0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.520
<v Speaker 1>issue in these cases. Although I always teach my students,

0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:40.280
<v Speaker 1>he said, she said, doesn't mean you don't have a case.

0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:45.040
<v Speaker 1>It means that if the jury actually believes her there,

0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:48.320
<v Speaker 1>it should be a guilty verdict. So what prosecutors have

0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:51.520
<v Speaker 1>to do is learn that. The reason, he said, she

0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:55.400
<v Speaker 1>said cases were always so difficult is that people weren't

0:15:55.440 --> 0:15:59.640
<v Speaker 1>believing the victims. And to believe the victims, you need corroboration,

0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:03.800
<v Speaker 1>you need a motive, and you need credible witnesses, all

0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:06.280
<v Speaker 1>of which I presume they're putting together for this case.

0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:09.680
<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, Laurie. That's Laurie Levins and a professor

0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.480
<v Speaker 1>at Loyola Law School. And that's it for this edition

0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:14.960
<v Speaker 1>of Bloomberg Law. Remember you can listen to all the

0:16:15.040 --> 0:16:17.600
<v Speaker 1>latest legal topics in the news anytime on our Bloomberg

0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:21.040
<v Speaker 1>Law Podcast. You can find them on iTunes, SoundCloud, or

0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:26.120
<v Speaker 1>at Bloomberg dot com slash podcast Slash Law. I'm June Grosso.

0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.640
<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much for listening, and remember to tune into

0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:31.320
<v Speaker 1>the Bloomberg Law Show tomorrow night attend p m. Eastern

0:16:31.480 --> 0:16:32.720
<v Speaker 1>Right here on Bloomberg Radio,