A court determined on Friday in the rape and sexual harassment conviction of the former cinema mogul that Mel Gibson will be allowed to testify about what he discovered from one of Harvey Weinstein’s victims. Gibson is charged with attempting to cover up his involvement in the case.
The identity of 66-year-old actor and director was one of a large range of witnesses whose names were made public in the Los Angeles Superior Court. However, he was by far the most well-known of those witnesses.
The court and the counsel had paused the process of selecting a jury in order to consider motions concerning the kind of evidence that would be admitted into evidence at the trial and which witnesses would be permitted to testify. The list of witnesses for the trial is kept under wraps.
The ruling made by Judge Lisa B. Lench states that Gibson is permitted to speak in favor of his masseuse and friend, who will be referred to as Jane Doe #3 throughout the proceedings.
The trial against Weinstein, who is 70 years old, includes 11 counts of rape and sexual assault. One of the charges against him is sexual violence by restraint, which alleges that he sexually assaulted a woman while she was being held against her will.
The prosecution claims that in May of 2010, while at a hotel in Beverly Hills, California, Weinstein got a massage from a woman and then accompanied her into the bathroom, where he masturbated. Weinstein has entered a not-guilty plea and has refuted any allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct without the consent of his victims.
To counter Gibson’s testimony, Weinstein’s lawyers contended that the information Gibson gleaned from the lady during their massage did not qualify as a new complaint by the woman under the law. If the victim voluntarily told someone else about the incident and did so within a reasonable amount of time after it took place, California law permits the filing of a new complaint, which makes it possible to present evidence of sexual assault or another type of crime.
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