Jennifer Siebel Newsom to testify in Harvey Weinstein trial
LOS ANGELES - Jury selection begins Monday in the trial of former film producer Harvey Weinstein, who was extradited from New York to Los Angeles in connection with sex-related counts involving five women.
Among the alleged victims to testify in the coming weeks is First Partner of California Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of Gov. Gavin Newsom. She is identified as Jane Doe #4, her attorney confirms to FOX 11.
Weinstein is accused of a forcible rape against the then Jennifer Siebel in Los Angeles County between September 2004 and September 2005, according to court documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
"Like many other women, my client was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein at a purported business meeting that turned out to be a trap. She intends to testify at his trial in order to seek some measure of justice for survivors, and as part of her life’s work to improve the lives of women. Please respect her choice to not discuss this matter outside of the courtroom," Siebel Newsom’s attorney, Beth Fegan, said in a statement.
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Before her marriage to then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Siebel Newsom was a credited documentary filmmaker and actress. She detailed the attack and assault by Weinstein in an Oct. 2017 article for The Huffington Post.
"I was naive, new to the industry, and didn’t know how to deal with his aggressive advances ― work invitations with a friend late-night at The Toronto Film Festival, and later an invitation to meet with him about a role in The Peninsula Hotel, where staff were present and then all of a sudden disappeared like clockwork, leaving me alone with this extremely powerful and intimidating Hollywood legend," she wrote.
Weinstein, now 70, was initially charged in January 2020 by Los Angeles County prosecutors with forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by use of force involving one woman on Feb. 18, 2013, and sexual battery by restraint involving another woman a day later.
Weinstein was subsequently charged in April 2020 with sexual battery by restraint involving another woman. In November 2020, prosecutors added six more counts -- three counts each of forcible rape and forcible oral copulation - - involving two alleged victims in Beverly Hills between 2004 and 2010.
The grand jury subsequently indicted Weinstein on the same charges.
Weinstein was extradited from New York, where he was convicted of raping an aspiring actress and a criminal sex act against a former production assistant. The state's highest court has since agreed to hear his appeal involving that case.
The trial in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom -- including the jury selection process -- is expected to last about two months.
Weinstein -- who remains behind bars -- produced such films as "Shakespeare in Love," which in 1999 received the best picture Oscar, and "Pulp Fiction."
City News Service contributed to this report.