Harvey Weinstein‘s defense team called an experimental cognitive psychologist to the stand. Elizabeth Loftus, the second defense witness, testified about the unreliability of memories.
“It does not take a PhD to know that memory fades over time,” Loftus said.
Stress and fear can also impair memories, she said. She added that medications, like Valium, can impact memories further. Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi then accused the doctor of customizing her testimony, referencing the testimony of Annabella Sciorra, one of Weinstein’s accusers, who testified that Weinstein sent her a care package with Valium, knowing she was dependent on it for a time in the 1990s.
BLAMING VICTIMS
In an interview with the New York Times published Friday, one of Weinstein’s lawyers, Donna Rotunno, responded to a question about whether she’d ever been assaulted, saying: “I have not, I have not, because I would never put myself in that position. I’ve always made choices from college age on where I never drank too much, never went home with someone I didn’t know. I just never put myself in any vulnerable circumstance. Never.”
In court, Illuzzi complained that they were “completely in contradiction to your (gag) order.”
Rotunno said that the interview happened before the trial began.
The rape trial is winding down, with the prosecution resting its case Thursday after calling six accusers to the stand. The Oscar-winner has pleaded not guilty and faces life behind bars if convicted.