NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� 's lawyers sought Friday to raise doubts about a former model's sexual assault allegations against him, noting that she didn't mention a key claim for years, even in her own lawsuits.
In Weinstein's ongoing sex crimes retrial, has accused the former movie studio boss of repeatedly sexually abusing her when she was a teenage fashion model. Weinstein is criminally charged with just one of those allegations, a claim of forced oral sex in 2006, which he denies.
Prosecutors to the landmark #MeToo case last year, after learning they'd have to retry the case because of an appeals court ruling.
Sokola sued Weinstein several years ago over another allegation that was beyond the legal timeframe for potential criminal charges. Her lawsuits didn't include anything about the claimed 2006 assault.
Weinstein lawyer Mike Cibella pointed that out Friday as he began questioning Sokola, suggesting she was financially motivated to make allegations against the once-powerful producer.
Sokola, who's embroiled in contentious divorce proceedings, ultimately received about $3.5 million in compensation from her lawsuits and from the Weinstein Co.'s bankruptcy. She batted back Cibella's suggestion that she sued to gain financial independence from her estranged husband.
鈥淚 was working at two jobs, and I was earning more money than he was,鈥� she testified.
Sokola is the second of three accusers to testify at Weinstein鈥檚 rape and sexual assault retrial, and she鈥檚 the only one who wasn鈥檛 part of the onetime Hollywood honcho鈥檚 .
Weinstein is because an appeals court , saying the judge at the time allowed prejudicial testimony. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denies ever sexually assaulting anyone.
The Polish-born Sokola, 39, is a psychotherapist who had a jet-setting modeling career as a teen. She that Weinstein exploited her youthful interest in an acting career to subject her to unwanted sexual advances, starting days after they met in 2002, while she was on a modeling trip to New York.
She told jurors that four years later, when she was 19, Weinstein lured her to a hotel room by saying he had a script for her to see, then pinned her down on a bed and performed oral sex on her as she implored him not to.
She acknowledged that she hadn't told the whole story in her lawsuits.
鈥淭he first encounter, when I was 16 years old, I could partly forgive myself for being in that situation. But then it was very, very hard for me to come to terms with what happened to me in 2006,鈥� she testified Thursday, under a prosecutor's questioning.
During defense questioning Friday, Cibella pointed to differences in some details of Sokola's testimony this week and what she told a grand jury last year, including the month of the alleged 2002 sexual abuse. The attorney also noted that Sokola is pursuing various legal pathways to stay in the U.S. long-term, and her involvement in the criminal case could help with one of them.
The Associated Press generally does not name people who allege they have been sexually assaulted, but Haley, Mann and Sokola have given their permission to be identified.
Jennifer Peltz And Michael R. Sisak, The Associated Press
