Harvey Weinstein accuser insists: 'He did that to me!'
One of Harvey Weinstein 's accusers has broken down in tears and cursed on the witness stand as a defence lawyer questioned her account of the former Hollywood mogul forcing oral sex on her nearly two decades ago.
"He was the one who raped me, not the other way around," Miriam Haley told jurors on Friday..
"That is for the jury to decide," Weinstein lawyer Jennifer Bonjean responded.
"No, it's not for the jury to decide. It's my experience. And he did that to me," Haley said, using expletives as tears began streaming down her face.
Judge Curtis Farber halted questioning and sent jurors on a break. Haley, her eyes red and face glistening, did not look at Weinstein as she left the witness stand.
Haley, 48, was testifying for a fourth day at Weinstein's rape trial. Questioning resumed after the break, with Haley composed but frustration sometimes flickering in her voice.
By midafternoon, the judge grew impatient with contentious cross-talk and extraneous comments from Haley and the lawyer. Farber pounded his fist on the bench at one point and banged his gavel at another, telling them: "Let's behave, both of you."
Farber later said it was the first time in 13 years that he'd used the gavel.
Weinstein is charged with sexually assaulting Haley and another woman, Kaja Sokola, and raping a third, Jessica Mann. Mann and Sokola also are expected to testify.
Weinstein denies the allegations. His lawyers argue that his accusers had consensual encounters with a then-powerful movie producer who could advance their careers.
Haley, who has also gone by the name Mimi Haleyi, is the first accuser to testify at the retrial, which is happening after an appeals court overturned Weinstein's conviction at an earlier trial. Haley's testimony at that 2020 trial took just one day.
Haley alleges that Weinstein assaulted her after inviting her to stop by his apartment. She had worked briefly as a production assistant on the Weinstein-produced TV show Project Runway, and his company had booked her a flight to Los Angeles the next day to attend a movie premiere.
She testified earlier in the week that Weinstein backed her into a bedroom and pushed her onto a bed, holding her down as she tried to get up and pleaded: "No, no — it's not going to happen."
Haley and two of her friends testified that she told them soon after that Weinstein had sexually assaulted her. She maintains she was never interested in any sexual or romantic relationship with Weinstein but still wanted his help professionally.
Weinstein, 73, listened with his hands clasped against his chin as Haley reiterated she never had romantic feelings for him and never wanted any sexual contact with him.
Bonjean also queried her about her continued interactions with Weinstein and his assistants, about her frequent travels and famous acquaintances at the time, and about her 2020 lawsuit against Weinstein. It ended in a $US475,000 ($A737,000) settlement.
The Associated Press generally does not name people who allege they have been sexually assaulted unless they give permission to be identified. Haley, Mann and Sokola have done so.
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