Damon Cheronis stands at the lectern before his witness has entered the courtroom. He emphatically works on his chewing gum, his cheek twitches. When Claudia Salinas takes a seat on the witness stand, Harvey Weinstein’s defender is not bothered by the usual biographical preliminary skirmishes. He asks the witness to identify the accused by means of a piece of clothing, and Cheronis gets straight to the point: “Have you ever seen Harvey Weinstein come out of a shower cabin naked?” He asks. Salinas says no.
Testified for the defense as a witness: Claudia Salinas leaves the court on Monday, February 10, 2020. Image: Mark Lennihan (Keystone)
The woman in the plaid blazer with the long ponytail is charged as a defense witness and is supposed to disprove the allegations of a suspected woman in court: Lauren Young had reported on Weinstein’s assault in a hotel bathroom in Los Angeles last week on the witness stand. At the time, Salinas acted as Weinstein’s assistant, Young said, and waited outside the bathroom door during the incident. In a first interview with the police, she even said that Salinas had pushed her into the bathroom and locked the door. In court, she had to weaken this information.
Here defender Cheronis hooks on Monday: Whether she has ever worked as Weinstein’s assistant or made appointments for him, he wants to know from Claudia Salinas. Again the witness says no. “Are you absolutely sure?” Cheronis asks. His voice is loud and challenging. Salinas’ “Yes!” Is not much quieter, it seems to reverberate in the hall.
The first real counter strike in court
For the defense, this yes is the first real success in court. Since last week, the ex-film mogul’s lawyers have been able to call their witnesses in the New York rape trial. Witnesses to relieve Weinstein. But the first one was torn apart in the air by prosecutor Joan Illuzzi, and the experimental psychologist, who presented her research on adulterated and implanted memories to the jury on Friday, managed above all to arouse the judge’s displeasure. Judge James Burke repeatedly intervened in the questioning of the witness and warned her to answer a question only if the answer was really within her expertise. Arthur Aidala, another attorney for Weinstein, later asked the judge to moderate his tone in the future. Finally, how Burke behaved made an impression on the jury. Aidala had set up right in front of the judge’s bench, his palms pressed together in front of his chest – it looked almost pleading.
Talita Maia leaves the court on Monday, February 10, 2020. Image: Seth Wenig (Keystone)
On Monday things are going better for the Weinstein team with the first witness. Talita Maia is on the witness stand in front of Claudia Salinas, a petite brunette woman who was friends with Jessica Mann, one of two women at the center of criminal proceedings before the New York State Supreme Court. While Lauren Young was only invited as a witness, Mann’s allegations are part of it the official indictment. She had testified for a total of three days, especially the cross-examination dragged on. The young woman not only reported two alleged rapes, but also admitted to having had consensual sexual contacts with the accused – an open flank for the Weinstein side.
Donna Rotunno, who heads the former film producer’s defense team, repeatedly accused Jessica Mann of deliberately exploiting the romantic interest of the tartar assigned to her. This is where she starts with Talita Maia, Mann’s former roommate. Rotunno wants to know how she perceived the relationship between Mann and Weinstein. “She really seemed to like him as a person,” says Maia, once Mann even called the studio boss her “spiritual soul mate”.
Jessica Mann is one of the official plaintiffs: Mann (right) with prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon (left). Photo: Justin Lane (Keystone)
Then Rotunno asks her witness to remember two very specific days when she was out with her husband. It is about days when Weinstein attacks are said to have occurred. Once Weinstein Mann is said to have forced oral sex in the bedroom of a hotel suite while Maia was in the next room. The defense lawyer asks how the man behaved when she came to the bedroom. “She seemed normal to me,” says Maia, “there was nothing unusual.”
Lauren Young on trial on February 6, 2020. Image: Mark Lennihan (Keystone)
This sentence is also a point for the defense. Right at the beginning of the trial, the prosecutor had invited a forensic psychiatrist, who said that victims of sexual violence rarely behaved as expected. Weinstein’s lawyers are banking on the jury ignoring this expert assessment and listening to their gut feelings.
Maia is no longer benevolent to her former friend
The public prosecutor’s office can still land one or two hits this Monday. In cross-examination it emerges that Talida Maia is no longer benevolent to her former roommate Jessica Mann: the two quarreled so violently that Maia Mann unloaded from her wedding. And Claudia Salinas is confronted with her own testimony to investigators. At that time she had described Weinstein as “bully” and described his behavior as “not particularly ethical”. But overall, the day goes to the defense. She sowed doubts.
It could be seen in the coming week whether these will bear fruit. Then the twelve-member jury will withdraw to their deliberations.
Created: 11.02.2020, 08:37 AM
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