Mel Gibson can testify about what he learned from one of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers, a judge ruled Friday, although he cannot be questioned about his past anti-Semitic comments after a lawyer requested it.
Weinstein attorney Mark Werksman argued that if Gibson takes the stand, he should be cross-examined about past anti-Semitic comments and racist remarks.
Judge Lisa B. Lench denied the request, but said the defense may ask whether Gibson had a motivation against Weinstein because he is Jewish.
The 66-year-old actor and director Gibson was one of many witnesses, and by far the best-known, whose identity was revealed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Lench ruled that Gibson can testify in support of his masseuse and friend, who will be known as Jane Doe #3 at trial.
Weinstein is accused of committing sexual violence against the woman, one of 11 rapes and sexual assaults in the trial against the 70-year-old.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denied any non-consensual sexual activity.
Mel Gibson will testify in the LA case against Harvey Weinstein after one of his friends was allegedly assaulted, but a judge said the defense cannot ask Gibson about past racist remarks
Weinstein is accused of sexual assault by restraint against the masseuse, with whom Gibson is friends
Prosecutors said that when Gibson accidentally brought up Weinstein’s name, the woman had a traumatic reaction and Gibson realized she had been sexually assaulted
Gibson’s testimony raises the prospect of two of Hollywood’s once most powerful men facing public downfalls in court
Prosecutors said that after getting a massage from the woman at a Beverly Hills, California hotel in May 2010, a naked Weinstein followed her into the bathroom and masturbated.
Weinstein’s lawyers argued against allowing Gibson to testify, saying that what he learned from the woman while receiving massages from her did not constitute a “new complaint” by the woman under the law that Gibson would rule on.
A ‘new complaint’ under California law allows the introduction of evidence of sexual assault or another crime if the victim reported it to someone else voluntarily and relatively soon after it happened.
Prosecutors said that when Gibson accidentally brought up Weinstein’s name, the woman had a traumatic reaction and Gibson learned from her that she had been sexually assaulted.
Gibson did not recall the time of the exchange, but the prosecution will use another witness, Allison Weiner, who remembers speaking with both Gibson and the woman in 2015.
Judge Lench said Gibson’s testimony will depend on how prosecutors describe the exchange with him when she takes the stand, and she may choose to rule against it at that time.
Werksman argued that Gibson had such a bias both because Weinstein is Jewish and because Weinstein published a book criticizing the portrayal of Jews in the 2004 Gibson-directed film The Passion of the Christ.
‘Any evidence of Mr. Gibson’s racism or anti-Semitism would give rise to a bias against my client who challenged him,’ Werksman said.
The lawyer briefly and falsely said he thought the film won a best picture Oscar, but Weinstein, whose films once dominated the Academy Awards, shook his head as he sat at the defense table.
“Sorry, my client would know better than I would,” Werksman said. “But it was an award-winning film.”
The defense also argued that Gibson tried to whitewash his image by focusing on Weinstein’s wrongdoing and asserting himself as a champion of the #MeToo movement.
The prosecution argued that Gibson had made no such suggestions about himself and that at the time of the conversation with his masseuse he said he was discussing entering into a business deal with Weinstein, showing there was no such bias.
Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez called Gibson’s earlier comments ‘despicable’ but said they had no relevance to the narrow purposes for which he would be called to the stand.
Gibson’s testimony raises the prospect of two of Hollywood’s once most powerful men, who have faced public downfalls, facing each other in court.
An email seeking comment from a representative for Gibson was not immediately returned.
In one of several similar rulings Friday, Lench also found that Melrose Place actress Daphne Zuniga could testify in a similar capacity for a woman known in the lawsuit as Jane Doe #4, whom Weinstein is accused of raping in 2004 or 2005.
Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence for a 2020 conviction for rape and sexual assault in New York
Weinstein’s defense also argued that Gibson was trying to whitewash his image by focusing on Weinstein’s wrongdoing
The Associated Press typically does not name people who say they have been sexually abused.
Weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence for a 2020 conviction for rape and sexual assault in New York. The state’s highest court has agreed to hear his appeal in that case.
He was subsequently brought to Los Angeles for a trial that began Monday, five years after women’s stories about him gave massive impetus to the #MeToo movement.
Friday’s arguments came a day after the premiere of the film She Said, which tells the story of the work of the two New York Times reporters whose stories brought down Weinstein.
Weinstein’s lawyers previously sought to have the Los Angeles trial postponed because publicity from the film could taint the jury pool, but the judge rejected their motion.
The trial is expected to last eight weeks. The judge and attorneys will return to the jury selection process Monday morning, and opening statements are expected to begin Oct. 24.