Prosecution paints Harvey Weinstein as ruthless sexual predator; defense says he's an innocent man

NEW YORK _ Oscar-winner Harvey Weinstein, the domineering film producer and accused sexual predator, was not a man to take no for an answer.

A Manhattan prosecutor, during opening arguments Wednesday in the long-awaited trial against the former movie mogul behind "Shakespeare in Love" and "Pulp Fiction," recounted in excruciating detail the alleged sexual assaults by Weinstein against three victims whose anguished cries fell on deaf ears.

The victims, including one-time "Sopranos" star Annabella Sciorra, were left "feeling small and insignificant, no match for the power broker in Hollywood: Harvey Weinstein," prosecutor Meghan Hast said inside a rapt courtroom where reporters from 100 news organizations helped fill every seat.

"Finally, after all these years, these women will have their voices heard."

The 67-year-old Weinstein, his day of legal reckoning finally at hand, sat in silence at the defense table while Hast told the Manhattan jury about the former Tinseltown heavyweight's alleged sexual assaults against Sciorra and the two New York women who are the victims in this case.

"Different women from different places, decades apart, and the same crime," Hast said. "The man sitting right there was not just a titan in Hollywood. He was a rapist, sexually assaulting these women when they refused to comply with his desires, and his orders, and then used his power and prestige to ensure their silence."

As if to illustrate the length of Weinstein's reach, the jury was shown a photo of the disgraced producer with former President Bill Clinton.

The alleged sexual assaults shared similar themes: a hulking attacker overpowering a smaller woman and ignoring her pleas for him to stop, with a confusing aftermath where the victims remained mute and emotionally devastated, according to Hast.

After one assault, Weinstein _ uncharacteristically cognizant of his behavior _ apologized to a victim for ripping off her jeans with such force that the pants were torn and her legs scratched up, said Hast.

But even that fleeting moment of compassion came with a sick turn: "I find you so attractive I couldn't resist," he allegedly said shortly after forcing her to perform oral sex on him. On another occasion, he allegedly engaged in forcible unprotected sex with the same woman _ an aspiring actress and former Washington state farm girl � after injecting himself to get an erection.

The defendant was "old enough to be her father, overweight and sloppy looking," Hast said.

Weinstein hobbled into court to finally face his accusers, who represent a tiny fraction of the dozens of women who emerged with allegations of his monstrous behavior. Two other alleged Weinstein victims, including one who claimed she was raped in Weinstein's apartment 15 years ago, will testify along with the Sciorra and the two accusers in this trial.

Weinstein faces two counts of predatory sexual assault, two counts of rape and one count of criminal sexual act. If convicted of the top charge, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

Defense attorneys argued that Weinstein was a victim of slander and asked the jury to remember the prosecution's opening statement was not evidence against their client.

Hast's presentation was "a preview to a movie you're not going to see," said defense lawyer Damon Cheronis. "You will judge what is fact and what is fiction. Harvey Weinstein said, 'I didn't do it. I'm going to let 12 people decide.' And that's why you're here."

He also managed to plug some of his client's box office triumphs: "He made 'Pulp Fiction,' 'Good Will Hunting,' Shakespeare in Love' _ I'm not saying that to brag about him."

Hast instead recounted the nightmarish allegations against Weinstein, starting with Sciorra's life-altering decision to answer the door at her Manhattan apartment after coming home from a dinner with the producer.

Standing outside in the winter of 1993-94 was Weinstein, who had dropped the actress off mere minutes earlier and returned with vile intent, Hast said.

Weinstein brutally assaulted the 110-pound Sciorra, refusing to take no for an answer as he pinned her arms over her head and raped her, the prosecutor said.

"Annabella does not remember having any fight in her when he continued to sexually assault her," Hast said. "The defendant finally had enough and he left her emotionally and physically destroyed, passed out on the floor of her bedroom."

Victim Miriam Haleyi, who met Weinstein in Cannes, France, said she endured a similarly ugly 2006 assault after becoming friendly with the movie-maker. The 115-pound Haleyi was no match for the 300-pound Weinstein as he forced himself on her, Hast told the jury.

"He put his weight on top of her and held her down," said Hast. "She kept saying no, she kept trying to get up, even telling the defendant she was on her period. Harvey Weinstein ignored her desperate pleas and resisted her efforts to get away."

When assaulted a second time by Weinstein, the shattered Haleyi "just lay there motionless like a dead fish and let him violate her, let him rape her ... he told her that she was a whore and a bitch," Hast said.

But Cheronis fired back in his opening: "What Ms. Hast just told you doesn't hold water because it's not true."

The evidence is "not going to show that Harvey Weinstein was a predator to (the Washington state victim) _ quite the contrary," he continued. "It's not going to show that Harvey Weinstein was a predator to Miriam Haleyi _ quite the contrary."

Cheronis introduced various texts messages from the former farm girl that portrayed their relationship as much friendlier, charging there were "complicated motives" in the case.

"You can't have it both ways, members of the jury," he said. "There is only one truth. And you will see it in these types of communications."

The trial's first witness, former board member of The Weinstein Company, delivered a lousy review of his old business partner.

Asked if it he liked Weinstein, Lance Maerov replied simply, "Not particularly."