Harvey Weinstein back in court: The biggest revelations so far from his second trial in LA

Harvey Weinstein's second criminal trial is underway in Los Angeles, carrying intense testimony from accusers on the 11 sex crime charges he is facing.

The disgraced movie mogul, 70, is already serving a 23-year sentence handed down in New York after being convicted of sexual assault and third-degree rape in 2020. He was extradited in 2021 to a California county jail to face several more similar charges.

The trial is expected to last up until the Thanksgiving holiday. If Weinstein is found guilty by the jury of nine men and three women, he faces up to 135 years in prison, according to prosecutors.

Here are the biggest revelations from the trial so far.

The People vs Harvey Weinstein, Part 2: Why is the disgraced movie mogul on trial again?

Jennifer Siebel Newsom testifies: 'You don't say no to Harvey Weinstein'

Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a documentary filmmaker and the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, nearly screamed through tears from the witness stand on Nov. 14 when she told the court Weinstein raped her in a hotel room and spoke of the devastating effect it had on her in the 17 years since.

Newsom described how nervous she was after being directed to his hotel suite. Asked by Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez why she didn’t walk away, she said: “Because you don’t say no to Harvey Weinstein.”

“He could make or ruin your career,” she said.

Weinstein's lawyers, who got to cross-examine Siebel Newsom the next day, say the two had consensual sex and that she was seeking to use the powerful producer to advance her career.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom full testimony: 'It's very traumatic'

Woman who testified in NY trial takes the stand in LA

Lauren Young — the only accuser to testify in both New York and Los Angeles trials — took the stand and said Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a Beverly Hills hotel bathroom in 2013 while she repeatedly told him "no."

Young, who is going by Jane Doe in court, said she was paralyzed by fear when Weinstein blocked her from leaving the bathroom, masturbated in front of her and groped her breasts.

When Young testified in New York in February of 2020, she was not one of the accusers whose stories would lead to Weinstein's conviction for rape and sexual assault and a 23-year prison sentence because her alleged encounter with Weinstein took place in California, not New York.

Instead, prosecutors called on her as a "prior bad acts" witness to testify to establish an alleged pattern of Weinstein preying on women.

Lauren Young's full testimony: Harvey Weinstein accuser who testified against him in NY takes stand in LA trial

Woman says humiliation kept her silent for years

A massage therapist testified that the humiliation and embarrassment she felt at allowing herself to be repeatedly alone with Weinstein after he sexually assaulted her kept her silent about it for years.

She told the jury that Weinstein sexually assaulted her after an appointment at a Beverly Hills hotel in 2010, claiming he came into the bathroom, blocked the door, masturbated and groped her breasts after the massage. She said she reluctantly agreed to see Weinstein three more times in the months that followed, and had similar experiences.

During cross examination, Weinstein's attorney Mark Werksman suggested the woman has shifted her account of the alleged assault. But she argued that working through the trauma had drawn out more accurate memories.

Werksman also suggested that the woman had done a consensual sexual favor for Weinstein to better her chances of getting a book published, something the two discussed during the first massage.

Accuser testifies Weinstein sexually assaulted her twice, 17 years apart

Kelly Sipherd testified that Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a hotel room during the Toronto International Film Festival in 1991 when she was 24 and an aspiring actor, then did it again when she went to confront him in the same hotel during the same festival 17 years later.

After the two of them left a party in 1991 for a glass of wine at a nearby café, the two went to Weinstein's room at the Four Seasons Hotel. Once there, he went into the bathroom and emerged wearing only an open shirt and holding a hot washcloth, Sipherd testified. "It all happened very, very very quickly," she said. "I was in shock. It was so unexpected."

She said he held her down and sexually assaulted her with his mouth and his hand. He then climbed on top of her and started to rape her but she was able to slip away and leave the room.

More: Harvey Weinstein has been behind bars for a year: What's changed?

Weinstein LA trial: Harvey Weinstein's defense can use Jennifer Siebel Newsom's email after alleged rape at trial

Accuser says Weinstein attacked her during business meeting

Another accuser, who was identified in court as Ashley M, said she was "freaked out" after meeting Weinstein on set of "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights" in 2003 when he asked her to give him a naked massage.

She said she was acting as a dancing double for one of the stars of "Dirty Dancing," a film produced by Miramax, owned by Weinstein at the time. 

She claimed Weinstein became aggressive during a closed-door meeting to discuss future projects, pushing her onto the bed and taking her top off before straddling her and masturbating while on top of her, despite her telling him to stop.

Ashley M previously told her story to the New York Times in October of 2017, but this was the first time she spoke about in a courtroom.

Accuser details alleged rape in a hotel room

The first accuser who testified told jurors that Weinstein knocked on her hotel room door late at night after only meeting him briefly during the Los Angeles Italia film festival and then forced her to perform oral sex.

"I was crying, choking," said the woman.

She said after her encounter with Weinstein, she began drinking heavily and was "feeling very guilty" because she "opened that door."

She said that when Weinstein took her into the bathroom to rape her, her body froze and "wouldn't listen," though she still objected verbally.

Weinstein's attorneys denied the events in the hotel happened at all, pressing the accuser on how Weinstein could have learned of her room number and why she made no complaints to hotel staff.

Weinstein's lawyer says sex is 'transactional' behavior in Hollywood

Weinstein's attorney Werksman told jurors during opening statements that what Weinstein did with the women was considered acceptable, "transactional" behavior in Hollywood, where young women were seeking roles and other advantages by having sex with the powerful movie magnate.

"You’ll learn that in Hollywood, sex was a commodity," Werksman said.

Werksman said some of the accusers who will testify are well known, including Jennifer Siebel Newsom, wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and a former actress and documentary filmmaker.

"She’s made herself a prominent victim in the #MeToo movement," Werksman said of Newsom in his opening statement. "Otherwise she’d be just another bimbo who slept with Harvey Weinstein to get ahead in Hollywood."

Prosecutors told a different story in their opening statement, saying accusers will tell uncannily similar stories detailing the times the producer ignored clear signs that they did not consent.

'I was destroying myself': Harvey Weinstein accuser says she felt 'guilty' after alleged rape

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Contributing: Naledi Ushe, Maria Puente, USA TODAY; Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harvey Weinstein's LA trial: The biggest revelations so far