Ex-boyfriend of Weinstein accuser takes stand in dramatic testimony
A witness testified that his ex-girlfriend came home 'pretty shocked, upset, angry' and 'kind of overall appalled'
NEW YORK (AP) -- A fledgling actress came home "pretty shocked, upset, angry" and "kind of overall appalled" after a hotel room meeting where she says Harvey Weinstein offered her movie roles in exchange for three-way sex, her ex-boyfriend testified on Thursday at Weinstein's New York City rape trial.
Lincoln Davies, who was dating Dawn Dunning at the time in 2004, was called as a prosecution witness to bolster emotional testimony by Dunning and another aspiring actress on Wednesday accusing Weinstein of preying on their vulnerabilities while pushing the notion that sex could lead to stardom.
Lincoln Davies, a former boyfriend of accuser Dawn Dunning, leaves court after testifying in Harvey Weinstein's trial on charges of rape and sexual assault, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Dunning also said Weinstein put his hand up her skirt and fondled her genitals a few weeks earlier that same year. But Davies said that she never told him about that.
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Also taking the witness stand was the manager of the celebrity hangout where Tarale Wulff, then a cocktail waitress, alleged that Weinstein masturbated in front of her on a secluded terrace. Maurizio Ferrigno testified he saw Weinstein and Wulff heading up a stairway, but conceded on cross-examination that prosecutors helped jog his memory of the moment, which Wulff says happened about 15 years ago.
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Jurors are also expected to hear Thursday about Weinstein's efforts to keep his alleged behavior secret, including his use of a private intelligence company as reporters from The New York Times and The New Yorker pursued stories about him in 2017.
Harvey Weinstein, center, leaves court following a bail hearing, Friday, Dec. 6, 2019 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
The experiences of Dunning and Wulff, who also claims Weinstein raped her in his SoHo apartment in 2005, are not part of the underlying criminal charges against him, but their testimony could be a factor in whether he goes to prison at the end of his landmark #MeToo-era trial.
Prosecutors called them as witnesses under a state law that allows testimony about so-called prior bad acts, enabling them to explore things like motive, opportunity, intent and a common scheme or plan.
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Weinstein's lawyers objected to Davies testifying, arguing that it was unheard of to allow corroborating witnesses for accusers whose allegations aren't part of the underlying case. Weinstein lawyer Arthur Aidala argued that bringing in witnesses to support those women's allegations was "an attempt by the prosecution to poison the jury with extrinsic evidence."
Weinstein, 67, is charged with forcibly performing oral sex on Mimi Haleyi, at the time a "Project Runway" production assistant, in 2006 and raping another aspiring actress in 2013. That woman could testify later this week.
Weinstein has insisted any sexual encounters were consensual.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they have been victims of sexual assault, unless they agree to be named or have gone public with their stories, as Haleyi, Wulff and Dunning have done.