Harvey Weinstein is on trial for rape and assault in New York City. Today, we expect opening statements in his case. Weinstein's lawyer is a woman named Donna Rotunno.
^ Mark, Michelle (February 26, 2020). "Harvey Weinstein's attorney says she's 'sickened' by the verdict and blames 'public pressure' for the jurors' decision". Insider. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
^ Reiss, Adam (July 11, 2019). "Harvey Weinstein hires new legal team; lawyer says movie mogul is being 'railroaded '". NBC News. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
Donna RotunnoDonna Rotunno, Harvey Weinstein's top lawyer, said it was a “bittersweet day” after her client was found guilty on two sexual assault accounts.
The disgraced producer is being held at the Correctional Treatment Center, the medical unit within the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles, while he awaits trial on 11 charges of rape and sexual assault. In 2020, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison in New York.
Bloom returned to practicing law in 2010 when she founded the Bloom Firm, a small, general-practice law firm that handles family, civil and criminal matters. She is licensed to practice law in both New York and California.
Lisa BloomGloria Allred / Daughter
Weinstein won an Academy Award for producing Shakespeare in Love and also won seven Tony Awards for plays and musicals including The Producers, Billy Elliot the Musical, and August: Osage County....Harvey WeinsteinRelativesBob Weinstein (brother)Criminal information14 more rows
Weinstein arrived in California from New York where he has been imprisoned at Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo. He has been serving a 23-year sentence after being convicted of two sex crimes in Manhattan in 2020, including first-degree sexual assault and third-degree rape.
Sarah BloomLisa Bloom / Daughter
Peyton Huddleston Bray, Jr.Lisa Bloom / Father
William Allredm. 1968–1987Peyton Huddleston Bray, Jr.m. 1960–1962Gloria Allred/Spouse
Simpson trial, and Norma McCorvey from the abortion rights case, Roe v. Wade. Like Allred, Bloom uses the media to get results. She's successfully sued Bill Cosby's estate, helped force Bill O'Reilly from Fox News, and won cases for celebrities like Mischa Barton.
60 years (September 20, 1961)Lisa Bloom / Age
Gloria AllredLisa Bloom / Mother
Harvey Weinstein case. In July 2019, Rotunno was hired by Harvey Weinstein. After being hired by Weinstein, she brought on colleague and frequent collaborator, Damon Cheronis, to assist along with local counsel Arthur Aidala of the law firm Aidala, Bertuna, & Kamins, PC.
During the trial, Rotunno was a vocal advocate for Weinstein, speaking out against his accusers and the #MeToo movement, making remarks such as "The emotion of this case has taken over. There is a truth you have not reported on.".
Rotunno said she believed that Weinstein was not guilty, despite what the media may say, clarifying he was only guilty of infidelity. Rotunno and her legal team were successful in securing a not guilty verdict on three counts including two more serious charges of predatory sexual assault.
Donna Rotunno is an attorney from Chicago. By 2018, she has handled over 40 sexual misconduct-related cases as a criminal defense attorney.
Rotunno is the daughter of a businessman in the grocery industry and a teacher and the granddaughter of a police officer.
Rotunno leads a private life. Little is known about her personal life outside of her legal work. Both her Twitter and Instagram accounts are set to private.
Harvey Weinstein's lead defense attorney, Donna Rotunno, calls herself the "ultimate feminist.". She's built her career defending men accused of rape. She's defending Weinstein against five felony counts of rape and sexual assault and has grilled his accusers during cross-examination. Feminists and Weinstein accusers say they've been repulsed by ...
Feminists and Weinstein accusers say they've been repulsed by her comments, accusing her of victim blaming. Rotunno says women have fought for decades to be viewed as equal to men, and now they need to start taking on some of the responsibility that comes with it. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
In the end, the judge convicted Whitley of all four counts of sexual assault and sentenced him to 16 years in state prison. So far, it's the only sex-crime case Rotunno has lost.
After losing the Whitley case, Rotunno reached out to the teenage victim, asking McCarthy to tell her that she hoped she wouldn't let the incident define her , McCarthy said. "Donna's the type of defense attorney a prosecutor hates to try a case against because she's outstanding," McCarthy added.
So far, she's lost just one sexual-assault case. Rotunno said she always knew she'd be a lawyer. As a 5-year-old, she and her father, Anthony, would watch the show "The Paper Chase," marveling at the Charles Kingsfield character, a tough and brilliant Harvard professor who specialized in contract law.
Rotunno's vision of feminism asks women to take more responsibility for themselves. Hollis Johnson/Insider. "Men are not going to stop asking women to go to the hotel room," Rotunno went on. "Women have to stop going. Because if there's one woman left willing to do it, it's going to continue.".
Of the 40 sex-crimes cases she's tried, she's lost one. Rotunno joined Weinstein's defense last spring, after he burned through a number of lawyers in the leadup to his rape trial. He sought a lawyer who wouldn't appear too intimidating when cross-examining the accusers.
Weinstein’s former lawyers were on hand to pass the torch: Ronald Sullivan and Jose Baez, the latter of whom also represented Casey Anthony, were granted permission to leave the case today, reportedly departing due to public scrutiny and “not getting along” with their client.
After several weeks of delays and extensions, the Harvey Weinstein criminal trial moved forward today with a procedural hearing in New York City, where attorneys from both sides discussed pre-trial issues, such as jury selection.
When Rotunno appeared on Fox News in January, that’s what Martha MacCallum’s first two questions addressed. On Nightline, right out of the gate, Amy Robach asked Rotunno, “Do you think Harvey Weinstein hired you because you’re a woman?”.
There are notes of Katie Roiphe , who wrote that acknowledging that some men “target” drunk women construes women as “helpless and passive,” and who further observed that “on some subterranean level of this [sexual harassment] conversation all men are presumed guilty.”.
Advertisement. As a practical matter, it’s not surprising that Rotunno would choose to make her living representing men accused of sexual assault. There’s a lot of money in it if you get the right clients. And in today’s legal system, defending people accused of rape is still a pretty good bet.
And, to take Rotunno’s word for it, her gender might help her beat the odds, because she can get away with a more aggressive cross-examination of the alleged victim, and jurors might place more value in her endorsement of Weinstein than they would a man’s.
If we believe people of all genders should be incensed by sexual violence, Rotunno’s combination of gender and specialty ought to be no more “paradoxical” than a male lawyer who defends men charged with murder, a crime whose victims are 77 percent men. Advertisement.
It is unduly patronizing (to women) and exculpatory (to men) to expect women to know better, or to be better, just because they belong to a demographic that is disproportionately victimized by rape. Advertisement. Advertisement.
There are traces of Caitlin Flanagan , who believes that many of today’s alleged survivors of abuse are simply regretting consensual sexual encounters from their pasts. There are whiffs of Emily Yoffe’s claim that some women get a “thrill” out of denouncing people and declaring themselves victims.