Ex-model testifying that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted her questioned about private journal
NEW YORK — A former teen fashion model testifying in Harvey Weinstein 's retrial on sexual assault charges was confronted on the stand Tuesday with a private journal where defense attorneys say she wrote about people who sexually abused her.
As one of Weinstein's lawyers began to question her about the handwritten journal, Kaja Sokola protested that it shouldn't be discussed in open court as she'd written it as part of a substance abuse treatment program years ago.
'This is very inappropriate,' she pleaded as the attorney began to cite portions of the text, which they say was originally written in Polish in 2015. 'Please don't read that. This is my personal things. I'm not on trial here.'
Judge Curtis Farber dismissed the jury for a lunch break as Sokola began to get emotional.
He assured her later that he would allow the jury to hear limited questioning around the document. The judge also said he had concerns about the journal's completeness and authenticity, wondering how defense lawyers had obtained what appears to be private medical records.
'This might backfire tremendously' for the defense, Farber said at one point, as prosecutors also strongly opposed inclusion of the journal as evidence in the trial. 'That's the risk they're willing to take.'
Sokola, who is now a 39-year-old psychotherapist, continued to push back. Her testimony was expected to resume Tuesday afternoon after a lunch break.
'This is unethical,' she insisted to the judge. 'I would never do this to my patient, and I would never do this to myself.'
Michael Cibella, one of Weinstein's lawyers, told Farber that the defense team intends to question Sokola on a part of the journal where she describes at least five sexual assaults she's suffered over her life.
Weinstein, they say, is not among those she named, though he does appear elsewhere in the journal. They say she references her frustration and disappointment after a 'Harvey W' had led her along, 'promising me help' but 'nothing came out of it.'
Sokola testified last week that Weinstein exploited her dreams of an acting career to subject her to unwanted sexual advances, starting days after they met in 2002, while she was a 16-year-old on a modeling trip to New York.
Some of those allegations are beyond the legal time limit for criminal charges, but Weinstein faces a criminal sex act charge over Sokola's claim that he forced oral sex on her in 2006.
Prosecutors added the charge to the landmark #MeToo case last year, after an appeals court overturned Weinstein's 2020 conviction. The guilty verdict pertained to allegations from two other women, who also have testified or are expected to testify at the retrial.
Weinstein, 73, has pleaded not guilty and denies ever sexually assaulting anyone.
His lawyers, in their cross-examination of Sokola that began Friday, have sought to raise doubts about her allegations, portraying her as a wannabe actor who tried to leverage her consensual relations with the former studio boss.
The Associated Press generally does not name people who allege they have been sexually assaulted, but Sokola has given her permission to be identified.
Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
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