Weinstein victim Miriam Haley’s decision to testify again

On Wednesday, 12 New York jurists found disorganized film singer Harvey Winstein with sexual assault on Myriam Haley in 2006, after condemning previous sex crimes in the state last year.

When Myriam Haley heard the news last year that the New York Court had condemned the rape against Harvey Winstein, the man who helped put him behind bars four years ago, shocked.

In 2020, Mrs. Haley told Manhattan all the details of the time he was sexually assaulted in his apartment in New York in 2006.

This time, she was planning to reject prosecutors, and she did not want to put herself through her again. But just weeks before the re -trial, she saw a link to a new podcast series aimed at “acquitting” Winstein.

“I just thought, I have to defend myself. I have to stand for the truth,” Ms. Haley told the BBC.

She was one of three women witnessing against Winstein during the re -trial for six weeks, accusing him of using his strength as Samramax Hollywood is a way to abuse young women.

The Winstein jury found a sexual assault on Mrs. Haley only. They found him not guilty regarding a second woman and are still trading on the accusations of the third woman.

Mrs. Haley, outside the Manhattan Court, said on Wednesday that the verdict “gives me hope – I hope there will be new awareness about sexual violence and that the ideal victim’s legend fades.”

The Appeal Court canceled the former Winsetein’s conviction for sex crimes in New York last April. The rulers found that the original trial of Winztein was not fair because it included a certificate of women who have provided allegations yet Official accusations against him.

In September, the 73 -year -old was accused of sexual assault on a new trial.

He acknowledged that he was not guilty and again he strongly denied these allegations. His lawyers argued that the trial that his accused were “friends with the benefits” who had sex by mutual consent in exchange for job opportunities.

Ms. Haley said that these pictures were insulting, adding that the continuous denial of Winstein for the allegations led her to “continue to appear” in the court.

Warning: This article contains sad content

For this trial, Mrs. Haley spent four days on the platform – three more than she did the first time.

This trial can look directly to the aggressor, who sat on a wheelchair next to the defense table, unlike the first trial, when it was banned by the judge’s booth.

In entry, she was concerned, as she was in the previous trial, about what she would feel.

“Do I feel fear? Will I feel sorry for it?” She said. “And then when I saw him, it was like nothing.”

With Winstein’s monitoring, Mrs. Halle told the court about her first meeting in France in 2006. She said she went to his hotel, believing that they would discuss job opportunities, but Winztein asked to give him a massage. It decreased and left crying.

They remained in touch, and later assisted Winstein, Mrs. Haley found work as a production assistant for the TV program runway.

Then, one night, she accepted an invitation to his apartment in New York, because he just asked her to attend a movie in Los Angeles.

That evening from July 10, 2006, the “Lunged” movie pole with the sofa and before it. He pushed her to a bedroom, where he forcibly performed sex, as Mrs. Haley witnessed.

“I couldn’t get away from his grip,” she told the court. “I realized, I am raped, that’s what.”

Mrs. Haley later told the BBC:

She said, “It is just a very gas.”

After direct interrogation, Mrs. Halley faced interrogation from Winztein’s lawyer Jennifer Bonjin, known for her combat style and defended the main Hollywood personalities accused of sexual assault, including Bill Cosby and RCK.

When Mrs. Bonjin distorted her about who removed her clothes on that evening in July, Mrs. Haley replied with tears.

She said, “I took out my clothes … I didn’t go out my clothes.” “He was the person who raped me, not the opposite.”

“This is to decide the jury,” Mrs. Bunjin replied.

“She was feeling escalating, and everything, just because she was very offensive at that moment,” said Ms. Haley, who added.

“Regardless of the ruling, it is still happening, in my view,” she said. “I am still the person I have to live with.”

Mrs. Haley was followed on the platform, actress Jessica Man, who participated in the first trial in Winstein in New York, and the former model Kaga Sukola, who witnessed for the first time, accusing Winstein of sexual assault on her when she was nine years old.

The jury found that Winstein is not guilty of assaulting Mrs. Sukola, and is still circulating about whether Mrs. Man was raped.

Winstein still has to spend a 16 -year prison sentence with California sexual crimes, which means that he was already expected to spend his rest of his life in prison regardless of the results of the trial.

In total, he was accused of sexual misconduct, assault and rape by more than 100 women.

Like many sexual assault victims, Mrs. Halley has publicly not publicly advanced abuse.

She said that she adopted a strategy of her difficult childhood – those that included ill -treatment – as she suppressed painful memories and continued life as usual.

However, the assault had emotional consequences.

“I lost confidence in many things,” Mrs. Haley said. “All I could see on the surface was all these people giving up. It was very insulting and embarrassing.”

In the end, Ms. Haley decided to advance after she accused other women, Winztein, of assault, which helped stimulate the #Metoo movement.

Denses of deaths were sent – but also dozens of messages from women who said they motivated them to talk about ill -treatment.

“She has this ripple effect,” she said.

In the end, the ruling was evidence of “permanent and real change” about awareness of sexual assault, Mrs. Haley said, describing the conviction as “launching.”

Now an independent product spends time in Mexico, Ms. Halley believes that the end of the trial would close a painful chapter, I thought he was already sealed with the first condemnation of Winstein.

She said, “Even I show this time seems to be a small victory.” “Certainly I was not doing it myself. I was doing it for the truth, and for other women.”