Bill Cosby spokesperson calls the Harvey Weinstein verdict ‘very sad day in the American Judicial System’
“There’s no way you would have anyone believe that Mr. Weinstein was going to receive a fair and impartial trial.”
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The spokesperson for another high-profile convicted sex offender shared his opinion of the conviction of Harvey Weinstein this week, calling the verdict a “very sad day in the American Judicial System.”
Bill Cosby’s publicist Andrew Wyatt shared his statement via the disgraced comedian’s social media profiles in the hours after a Manhattan jury found Weinstein, 67, guilty of two sexual assault charges, resulting in a prison sentence of up to 29 years, the Associated Press reports. In 2018, Cosby was found guilty of drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand in his home in 2004, and sentenced to three to 10 years in prison.
“This is not shocking because these jurors were not sequestered, which gave them access to media coverage and the sentiments of public opinion,” Wyatt’s statement read. “There’s no way you would have anyone believe that Mr. Weinstein was going to receive a fair and impartial trial.”
Wyatt’s statement did not discuss the jury having found Weinstein not guilty of three other charges.
“Here’s the question that should haunt all Americans, especially wealthy and famous men,” the statement continued. “Where do we go in this country to find fairness and impartiality in the judicial system; and where do we go in this country to find Due Process?”
Wyatt went on to criticize the #MeToo movement, which gained some prominence in 2017 after a number of women began leveling allegations against Weinstein. Allegations of sexual misconduct began cropping up against Cosby en masse in late 2014, and many saw his conviction as a milestone for the #MeToo era.
» READ MORE: Was it #MeToo that convicted Bill Cosby? How public perception has evolved when it comes to sexual assault
“This is a very said day in the American Judicial System,” Wyatt wrote.
Weinstein on Monday was found guilty of assaulting Mimi Haleyi, a production assistant, at his apartment in 2006, as well the third-degree rape of Jessica Mann, a former aspiring actress, in 2013. He was found not guilty of two counts of predatory sexual assault, which reportedly could have resulted in a life sentence.
The former Hollywood movie mogul is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11.