Days after the first trial for sexual aggression against Harvey Weinstein in 2020, the Prosecutor’s Office spoke privately for the first time with a former model that alleged that the magnate forced her to practice oral sex.
However, the jury was never informed about Kaja Sokola’s complaint. The Prosecutor’s Office said they still investigated the accusation when Weinstein was convicted in February 2020 of charges based on accusations of other women.
This Wednesday, Sokola began telling his story before a new jury. The former model did not look at Weinstein as he passed with him and get on the standard of witnesses in a Manhattan court where he is judged again. A Court of Appeals annulled his sentence for rape and sexual aggression in 2020, reactivating those positions for a new trial, and the prosecution subsequently added another position for sexual assault based on the accusations of Sokola.
While she began to testify about her life before the alleged aggression of 2006, Weinstein looked at her with her right hand on her mouth. Weinstein, 73, declared himself innocent of all charges.
His lawyers argue that his accusers agreed to have sexual encounters with him with the idea of obtaining opportunities in cinema and television, and the defense emphasized that they all had contact with him for a while after the alleged aggressions. The women, on the other hand, claim that the Oscar winning producer took advantage of his position in the entertainment world to abuse them. Sokola, 39, born in Poland, is psychotherapist and writer, and recently launched a film producer. Kaja sued Weinstein after rumors in the industry about their behavior towards women became a wave of public accusations in 2017, promoting the #MeToo movement against inappropriate sexual behavior. The Prosecutor’s Office said Sokola finally received 3.5 million dollars in compensation. Sokola testified that he was never interested in modeling, but rather acting and writing, but his mother and sister decided that he should participate in a Polish models contest at age 14. He obtained a contract with an agency and soon mixed high school with photo sessions. Sokola, who is expected to continue testifying all Thursday, has not yet been asked about Weinstein. The Prosecutor’s Office has said that he met him during a modeling trip to New York, in 2002. Sokola states that shortly after meeting Weinstein, he invited her to lunch to talk about his career, but then sexually assaulted her. The demands claim that he harassed her sexually and abused emotionally for years. The criminal accusation derives from Sokola’s accusations that Weinstein practiced oral sex for force in a Manhattan hotel, in May 2006. The Prosecutor’s Office explained that this happened after Weinstein organized that Sokola was extra in the movie daily of a nanny and knew his older sister, who was visiting who tried to impress. “I was proud to meet him,” said her sister, the cardiologist Dr. Ewa Sokola, to the jury on Wednesday. He added that the three found themselves in the lobby of a hotel, chatted about Italian films and the heart health of the corpulent Weinstein, and then he and the model rose together from the table. Kaja was tense when he returned approximately half an hour later, but said nothing about the alleged sexual assault, according to Dr. Sokola to the jury. He said he was surprised to learn about the accusation more than a decade later, when he read it in a magazine article. Weinstein’s lawyers will have the opportunity to interrogate Kaja Sokola in the next few days. In an initial statement last month, defense lawyer Arthur Aidala questioned why he waited for years to appear. The Prosecutor’s Office has argued that the accusers were reluctant to speak due to Weinstein’s wealth and influence. Weinstein’s lawyers fought without success for Sokola’s accusation not to be included in the new trial. They accused the Prosecutor’s Office of “introducing an additional position in the case” to try to strengthen the credibility of other accusers. One of the others, Miriam Haley, testified last week that Weinstein forced her to practice oral sex in 2006. The third accuser in the case is expected to, Jessica Mann, testifies later.
