MOGUL RAPE TRIAL
HARVEY Weinstein's lawyer claims his rape accusers "made up" their accounts because they're too embarrassed to admit they had consensual sex with him.
Donna Rotunno made the extraordinary claims on Australian TV show 60 Minutes, in an interview that was recorded days before she was placed under a gagging order.
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The lead lawyer is defending disgraced producer Weinstein in his New York rape trial where he is accused of rape and sexual assault.
Weinstein, 67, who has not taken the witness stand during his trial, denies five charges.
The accusers are among more than 80 alleged victims who accused the Hollywood mogul of misconduct since 2017, driving the #MeToo movement.
Rotunno told 60 Minutes she believes that while Weinstein’s alleged victims would have largely “made up” their claims for financial gain, they were motivated by shame.
She said: “There's definitely a financial and a monetary gain that's possible, I also think the motivation is not wanting to be the person who says, ‘I had consensual behaviour with Harvey Weinstein.’”
The 44-year-old attorney believes the accusers were “throwing themselves at Harvey Weinstein” despite his appearance.
Rotunno said: “Women are attracted to older powerful men. Women don't care what they look like. They don't care how big they are. They're attracted to the lifestyle and the benefit of the lifestyle.”
Speaking to journalist Tom Steinfort, Rotunno also claimed the only thing her client is guilty of is cheating on his wife – and that doesn’t make him a criminal.
She said: “A sin is cheating on your wife. A sin is sleeping with multiple women. A sin is treating people badly at work. But a crime is a crime.
“And so is Harvey guilty of committing sins? Sure. That doesn't make you a criminal, and there's a lot of real estate between making bad choices and committing crimes.”
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Donna, who says she is a feminist, also hit out the system that automatically "believes all women".
She said: "How is that a just, fair system for either side?
"If I was a man in today's world, I'd make people sign consent forms. They think I'm kidding and I'm not."
The attorney has faced criticism during Weinstein's trial for her blunt statements casting doubt on the victims' accounts.
She was also accused of victim blaming, most recently when she declared she had never been sexually assaulted because she’d never put herself in that position before.
Rotunno claims her gender has played a pivotal role in the case – softening the image of his defence team’s cross-examinations at trial
But she says she wasn’t prepared for the public “attacks” she has received – include rape threats.
She told the TV interview: “I wasn't prepared for the Twitter attacks... people screaming at me when I walk into the courthouse and the direct messages I get on Instagram saying, ‘I hope you get raped.”
The 60 Minutes interview came as the .
On Friday, the panel of seven men and five women revealed they were deadlocked and made a request to be hung on at least one of the charges at the New York hearing. They were told to continue on Monday.
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In her closing speech Rotunno on the defendant's morals and acquit him “no matter how unpopular you might be when you go back home.”
She said: “This is not a popularity contest. We are not here to criminalize morality.”
Last week a judge issued a gag order banning the defence lawyers from speaking publicly during deliberations.
Rotunno then made a formal complaint about the accusers' lawyer Gloria Allred attacking her in the media. She said the same ban should apply.
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Harvey Weinstein trial jury retires to consider its verdicts in movie mogul's case
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