Disgraced former movie producer Harvey Weinstein is once again on trial for sexual assault. His retrial in the matter began Wednesday with a single shocking revelation from prosecutors.
The Lowdown
Wednesday marked the beginning of Weinstein’s long awaited retrial on numerous counts of sexual assault. This time, however, prosecutors unveiled the identity of a new victim bringing her story to the forefront for the first time.
Her name is Kaja Sokola. Sokola is a former model who had met Weinstein in the early 2000s. Weinstein was later charged in 2006 for forcing oral sex on Sokola, she also accused Weinstein at the time of having allegedly groped her four years prior when she was all of 16 years old.
In their opening statements, prosecutors wasted no time in painting Weinstein as a sex depraved pervert who by their count sexually abused numerous women over the course of his career while he was one of Hollywood’s top power brokers at the time. Prosecutor Shannon Lucey defined Weinstein as a powerful abuser who dangled the prospects of a Hollywood career over the head(s) of numerous women.
In the case of his new trial and the new allegation Weinstein pled not guilty but not before his defense attorney made a fool of himself. In courtroom comments, defense attorney Arthur Aidala attempted to paint Weinstein as an innocent man and that the casting couch isn’t a crime scene — but it gets worse. Aidala then attempted to argue that each of the women involved including the newest victim ‘willingly participated in a showbiz quid pro quo.