One year ago, former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual abuse after a trial that stretched on for weeks and grabbed international attention.
Bernard Cody spent weeks listening to testimony in the Weinstein trial: “It was very disturbing.”
Cody was the jury’s foreman. He said he vividly remembers when the first accuser took the witness stand — actress Annabella Sciorra.
“As she told her story, and then the other ones started coming in and telling their story, each story was basically a good 90, 95% the same.”
Prosecutors tried to convince Cody and fellow jurors that Weinstein was a serial predatory.
Weinstein never took the stand in his own defense, but his defense team argued Weinstein’s relationships with the women who testified against him were consensual.
“The DA had good questions and they did their homework,” Cody said. Weinstein’s “team was very good, it’s just that I didn’t think they had enough evidence.”
The Weinstein trial became a critical test for the #MeToo movement. In January, 40 women who accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct agreed to a $17 million dollar settlement.
Weinstein still faces rape and sexual assault charges out of Los Angeles.
