Latest news with #ofPhotonics
Time of India
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Harvey Weinstein retrial: Accuser's roommate testifies; Oscar-winning producer's lawyers argue that woman consented to boost career
Hovering in the doorway of her roommate's bedroom one evening in July 2006, TV production assistant Miriam Haley said Harvey Weinstein - her boss - had forcibly performed oral sex on her, her then-roommate testified Thursday at the ex-movie mogul's retrial. "I said, 'Miriam, that sounds like rape. I think you should call a lawyer,'" but a shaken Haley seemed disinclined to do so, recalled the ex-roommate, Elizabeth Entin. If secondhand, it was the first testimony jurors have gotten so far about any of the alleged sexual assaults at the heart of the retrial, which opened Wednesday. Haley and two other accusers are expected to testify later in the weekslong proceeding. Weinstein, 73, maintains that he has never sexually assaulted or raped anyone. His lawyers argue that his accusers consented to sexual encounters with the Oscar-winning producer in hopes of getting ahead in the entertainment business. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Experience three trade fairs with just one ticket Undo automatica 2025 Undo Laser World of Photonics Undo World of Quantum Undo Visit automatica: June 24-27, Munich Undo Weinstein was transformed in 2017 from a Hollywood tycoon into the #MeToo movement 's archvillain, after a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him became public. He was convicted in 2020 of raping Jessica Mann, who was once an aspiring actor, and sexually assaulting Haley, who worked on the Weinstein-produced "Project Runway." But New York's highest court overturned his conviction last year, finding that the trial judge had allowed prejudicial testimony. The reversal led to the retrial, which includes an additional allegation of forcible oral sex on a different woman, former model Kaja Sokola. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Entin was among the witnesses who are returning to the stand five years after testifying in the landmark #MeToo case. But prosecutors, some defense lawyers and the judge are different - and so are the contours of the testimony and evidence being elicited. For instance, this time Entin didn't give any details of what she said Haley told her about the alleged sexual assault. And Entin wasn't asked about a recollection that made for a memorable and rare light moment at the first trial - a time when she said Weinstein showed up uninvited and was chased around the women's apartment by Entin's pet Chihuahua. Farber had indicated he didn't think that having Entin describe the purported episode was fair game for the trial. In another measure of the looping trajectory of the case, Entin found herself testifying about what she has said and written about the first trial itself. The fashion startup founder and consultant has reflected on the case in a book, on podcasts and some interviews. Weinstein attorney Jennifer Bonjean confronted her with instances in which Entin referred to her participation in the first trial as her "15 minutes of fame" and compared gearing up for testifying to preparing for battle. Entin responded tensely that being cross-examined was a form of "very civilized battle." The voluble Entin said that her writing style was sometimes "mildly hyperbolic," but that she'd been describing how she girded herself for a daunting experience. The Associated Press does not identify people who allege they have been sexually assaulted unless they agree to be named. Haley, Mann and Sokola have done so. Best Hindi Movies | Best Tamil Movies | Best Telugu Movies | Best english Movies | Best Malayalam Movies |
Time of India
24-04-2025
- Time of India
Alabama to execute a man who said he's guilty of rape and murder and deserves to die
Representative Image MONTGOMERY: An Alabama man is scheduled to be executed Thursday after dropping his appeals, saying he's guilty of raping and murdering a woman in 2010 and he doesn't want to keep "wasting everybody's time" and money. James Osgood, 55, will be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. CDT at William Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, joining the approximately one in 10 people on death rows across America who have asked for their own executions. A jury convicted Osgood of capital murder for the killing of Tracy Lynn Brown in Chilton County. Prosecutors said Osgood cut Brown's throat after he and his girlfriend sexually assaulted her. Osgood told The Associated Press that he wants to apologize to Brown's family and that he dropped his appeals because, "I am guilty of murder." In a letter to his lawyer explaining his decision to seek an execution date, he wrote that he's tired and no longer feels like he's "even existing." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Experience three trade fairs with just one ticket Undo automatica 2025 Undo Laser World of Photonics Undo World of Quantum Undo Visit automatica: June 24-27, Munich Undo "I'm a firm believer in, like I said in court, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I took a life so mine was forfeited. I don't believe in sitting here and wasting everybody's time and everybody's money," Osgood told the AP. Brown was found dead in her home on Oct. 23, 2010. Prosecutors said Osgood admitted to police that he and his girlfriend sexually assaulted Brown, forcing her to perform sex acts, after discussing how they had fantasies about kidnapping and torturing someone. Then he cut her throat. His girlfriend, who was Brown's cousin, was sentenced to life in prison. "I can't imagine anyone doing that to someone, even their worst enemy. I don't know what kind of mind has that kind of thinking," Jackie Wileman, Brown's stepmother, told the judge at Osgood's 2014 sentencing hearing. In handing down the death sentence, the judge noted that Osgood had a difficult childhood that included sexual abuse, abandonment and a suicide attempt. But the judge also said that it was Osgood who cut Brown's neck and stabbed her as she begged the couple not to hurt her. Osgood said last week that he regrets all the "pain and suffering" he has caused Brown's family, and his own. "I would like to say to the victim's family, I apologize," Osgood said. "I'm not going to ask their forgiveness because I know they can't give it." Only God can grant forgiveness, he said. Osgood's initial death sentence was thrown out by an appeals court ruling that jurors were given improper instructions. At his resentencing in 2018, Osgood asked to be executed, saying he didn't want the families to endure another hearing. The Death Penalty Information Center reported last year that 165 of the people executed since a moratorium on the death penalty ended in 1977 - a total that has since grown to more than 1650 people - asked to be put to death. The center also said that the overwhelming majority of these volunteers had histories of men-tal ill-ness, sub-stance abuse or suicidal ideation. Alabama governor Kay Ivey made a rare move this year to grant clemency to another death row inmate , commuting the death sentence of Robin "Rocky" Myers to life in prison. The governor said there were enough questions about his guilt that she could not move forward with his execution. It was the only time Ivey has granted clemency, and the first time any Alabama governor commuted a death sentence since 1999.
Time of India
21-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
‘Tax terrorism': Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal says excise, taxation officers being given monthly raid targets
Chandigarh: Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal has voiced opposition to what it is calling a fresh wave of " tax terrorism ", following new directives reportedly issued to the state's finance and GST departments . Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal president Amit Kapoor alleged that the govt has set aggressive monthly raid targets for excise and taxation officers (ETOs), under which each officer was expected to conduct multiple raids resulting in hefty penalties. "With 250 ETOs in the state, nearly 1,000 raids will be carried out every month. This is nothing short of organised extortion, projected to squeeze around Rs 1,000 crore annually from the trading community ," Kapoor alleged. Kapoor criticised the state govt, asking if it is now seeking to fill its coffers at the expense of small and medium traders just to fulfil the promises made during the elections. "This so-called common man's govt is planning to burden honest traders instead of supporting them in difficult times," he said. The traders' body also raised concerns about law and order, alleging that traders were already facing threats and extortion from criminal gangs. "Instead of safeguarding the trading community, the govt is implementing policies that could destroy the small businesses still struggling to survive," Kapoor added. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Experience three trade fairs with just one ticket Undo automatica 2025 Undo Laser World of Photonics Undo World of Quantum Undo Visit automatica: June 24-27, Munich Undo Issuing a stern warning, Kapoor declared that they would not tolerate any harassment of traders and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the order. "If the govt fails to act, the trader community will have no option but to take to the streets in protest," he said.
