Harvey Weinstein’s attorney says accuser Annabella Sciorra has ‘spent an entire life acting for a living’ ahead of The Sopranos’ actress taking to the stand in the producer’s trial

• Prosecutors will call ‘The Sopranos’ actress Annabella Sciorra, 59, to testify 
• She said that Weinstein raped her at her Manhattan home in the early 90s 
• Donna Rotunno said she fully expects the celebrity to ‘be an excellent witness’ 
• Weinstein cannot be charged with raping Sciorra because the statute of limitations has expired but prosecutors hope she will strengthen their case 
• Weinstein is preparing for his sexual misconduct trial starting in NYC Monday 
• He has pleaded not guilty and maintains any sexual activity was consensual 

Harvey Weinstein’s attorney has said his accuser Annabella Sciorra has ‘spent an entire life acting for a living’ ahead of The Sopranos’ actress taking to the stand in the producer’s upcoming trial. 

Donna Rotunno told CNN she fully expects the celebrity to ‘be an excellent witness’ who is ‘prepared to answer my questions’. 

But the attorney added: ‘I think the circumstances, and the facts, and the evidence in the case will show to the jury that her statements don’t rise to the level of what the prosecutor is asking the jury to convict Mr. Weinstein on.’

The producer’s trial, starting Monday, centers an allegation from a woman claiming he raped her in a New York hotel in 2013. The case will also focus on a woman who claimed he forcibly performed oral sex on her at his apartment in 2006.

Other accusers, including Sciorra, will potentially be called to the stand as witnesses so they can provide insight to Weinstein’s abusive behavior.  

Weinstein, 67, denies all allegations against him.   

Donna Rotunno, attorney for Harvey Weinstein, has said his accuser Annabella Sciorra has ‘spent an entire life acting for a living’. Rotunno is pictured in August last year 

Prosecutors will call ‘The Sopranos’ actress Annabella Sciorra, pictured in November, to testify. She helped trigger the #MeToo movement when she told The New Yorker magazine that Weinstein raped her at her Manhattan home over the winter of 1993-94

Prosecutors will call Sciorra to testify. She helped trigger the #MeToo movement when she told The New Yorker magazine that Weinstein raped her at her Manhattan home over the winter of 1993-94.

Weinstein cannot be charged with raping Sciorra, 59, because the statute of limitations has expired but she is key to prosecutors’ attempts to convince the jury that he engaged in predatory sexual behavior. 

In December Rotunno told ABC’s Amy Robach: ‘If you don’t want to be a victim, don’t go to the hotel room. And if you don’t want to be a victim, don’t sign an NDA. Go out onto 5th Avenue, take a megaphone and talk about what you want to talk about.’ 

Rotunno told Nightline that she does not believe the alleged behavior constitutes ‘rape, sexual assault or even sexual harassment’.

‘In many ways I hope that I could help women. What happens in these circumstances where women don’t want to take certain responsibilities for their actions, we infantalize ourselves.

‘You have to know that when you make certain choices, there is a risk when you make those choices,’ she said in her interview.

She also said in the interview: ‘Going to a hotel room and having someone ask you if they’ll give you a massage is not rape, it’s not sexual assault and it’s really not even sexual harassment.

‘People have a right to make a pass and you have a right to say, ‘no thank you.” 

Jury selection is scheduled to start this week in New York City in a case involving allegations Harvey Weinstein raped one woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performed a forcible sex act on a different woman in 2006.

It is the only criminal case to arise from dozens of allegations against the Oscar-winning film producer.

Weinstein, 67, has pleaded not guilty and maintains any sexual activity was consensual. He told CNN he’s been in rehab for two years since the allegations first broke. 

‘The past two years have been grueling and have presented me with a great opportunity for self-reflection,’ Weinstein said, answering select questions. ‘I realize now that I was consumed with my work, my company and my drive for success.

‘This caused me to neglect my family, my relationships and to lash out at the people around me. I have been in rehab since October 2017, and have been involved in a 12-step program and meditation. I have learned to give up my need for control.’         

Weinstein pictured in December. Jury selection is scheduled to start this week in a case involving allegations Weinstein raped one woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performed a forcible sex act on a different woman in 2006. It is the only criminal case to arise from dozens of allegations against the Oscar-winning film producer

Weinstein leaves New York City Criminal Court after a bail hearing in December

Weinstein’s lawyer has argued the case is weak and said she plans to aggressively cross-examine accusers.

‘Just because a woman makes a claim doesn’t mean it’s true,’ lawyer Rotunno said after a pretrial hearing last month.

‘Just because Mr Weinstein has been accused of a crime, that does not mean he’s guilty.’

Prosecutors have not commented publicly on the case since around the time of Weinstein’s arrest and initial court appearances in 2018.

In a statement issued at the time, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr praised the ‘extraordinary courage’ of Weinstein’s accusers said he was confident jurors would reject defence attacks on their credibility.

Weinstein’s trial is expected to share some similarities with the first big trial of the #MeToo era.

That ended in Bill Cosby’s conviction for drugging and molesting a woman in 2004.

As in that case, prosecutors are angling to make Weinstein’s trial a referendum on his behavior with women over many decades, not just in the two instances that led to criminal charges. 

Prosecutors had charged Weinstein with assaulting a third woman but later dropped that charge after it was alleged that a police detective had coached a corroborating witness.

The most serious charges against Weinstein, two counts of predatory sexual assault that carry a mandatory life sentence, require that prosecutors demonstrate Weinstein had a habit of violating women.

For that, prosecutors plan to call Sciorra, who said Weinstein forced himself inside her Manhattan apartment in 1993 or 1994 and raped her after she starred in a film for his movie studio.

But they also want jurors to hear from some of the more than 75 women who have come forward publicly to accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct ranging from harassment to assault.

Time’s Up pioneers Ashley Judd, Annabella Sciorra and Salma Hayek pictured on stage at the 90th Academy Awards in March 2018 

The first allegations were brought to light by The New York Times and The New Yorker in October 2017.

Weinstein has shuffled through a series of lawyers before settling on a team led by Ms Rotunno.

His trial is expected to be watched closely as a measure of the #MeToo movement’s success and by authorities in other jurisdictions that may seek to bring charges against him.

Los Angeles prosecutors recently said they are reviewing eight cases accusing Weinstein of sexual assault.

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