NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� A former fashion model testifying in 鈥檚 retrial on sexual assault charges was confronted on the stand Tuesday with a private journal in which she wrote about people who sexually abused her, but notably left out the disgraced former Hollywood mogul.
Michael Cibella, a lawyer for Weinstein, noted that the journal by names at least two people who had sexually assaulted her. Neither one of them, she acknowledged to the jury in Manhattan, was Weinstein.
Instead, the 鈥淧ulp Fiction鈥� producer is mentioned in the writings for altogether different reasons. Under an entry for 鈥淗arvey W鈥� Sokola wrote that he was 鈥減romising me help,鈥� but 鈥渘othing came out of it.鈥�
鈥淭he trauma that Harvey Weinstein inflicted on you was that he made promises that he didn鈥檛 keep, even as you accused two other men of sexually assaulting you,鈥� Cibella said.
The Polish model, now a 39-year-old psychotherapist, pushed back at the characterization.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 your interpretation and I鈥檒l leave that with you,鈥� Sokola responded from the witness stand. 鈥淗arvey made promises he didn鈥檛 keep -- and he sexually assaulted me.鈥�
Earlier in the day, Sokola had argued that the journal, which she wrote in Polish in 2015, shouldn鈥檛 be discussed in open court at all.
She said the writing has been part of her treatment for substance abuse. One of the steps of the program, she explained, was to list all the people and things with which she held resentment.
鈥淭his is very inappropriate,鈥� Sokola pleaded as one of Weinstein鈥檚 attorneys began to cite portions of the text to the jury. 鈥淧lease don鈥檛 read that. This is my personal things. I鈥檓 not on trial here.鈥�
Judge Curtis Farber assured Sokola that he would only permit limited questioning around the document. He also said he had concerns about the journal鈥檚 completeness and authenticity and wondering how defense lawyers had obtained what appeared to be private medical records.
鈥淭his might backfire tremendously鈥� for the defense, Farber said at one point, as prosecutors also strongly opposed inclusion of the journal as evidence in the trial. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the risk they鈥檙e willing to take.鈥�
Weinstein's lawyers, in their cross-examination of Sokola , have sought to cast Sokola as a wannabe actor who tried to leverage her consensual relations with the former studio boss.
Cibella, to that end, quizzed Sokola on Tuesday about what she told prosecutors during a 2020 interview.
He contended that a prosecutor鈥檚 handwritten notes from the meeting don鈥檛 include any mention of Weinstein using force or tearing off her clothes, as she鈥檚 described the incident to jurors in her testimony.
鈥淚s it a fact that you never made an allegation in 2020 that Mr. Weinstein used force?鈥� Cibella asked.
鈥淭hat is a lie,鈥� Sokola fired back.
Cibella also questioned Sokola about her communications with Weinstein in the years after she claimed he had sexually assaulted her in 2006.
Among them were phone messages, text messages and emails in which she tried to meet up in person with the co-founder of the production company Miramax or asked him for help on various movie industry opportunities.
Sokola, who is expected to return to the stand on Wednesday, that Weinstein exploited her dreams of an acting career to subject her to unwanted sexual advances, starting days after they met in 2002, while she was a 16-year-old on a modeling trip to New York.
Some of those allegations are beyond the legal time limit for criminal charges, but Weinstein faces a criminal sex act charge over Sokola鈥檚 claim that he forced oral sex on her in 2006.
Prosecutors to the landmark #MeToo case last year, after an appeals court . The guilty verdict pertained to allegations from two other women, who also have testified or are expected to testify at the retrial.
Weinstein, 73, has pleaded not guilty and denies ever sexually assaulting anyone.
The Associated Press generally does not name people who allege they have been sexually assaulted, but Sokola has given her permission to be identified.
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Associated Press reporter Jennifer Peltz in New York contributed to this story.
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Philip Marcelo, The Associated Press
