New York (AFP)
Can memories be so misleading as to turn consenting into assault? This was suggested by Friday the defense of Harvey Weinstein, by testifying a psychologist specializing in complex mechanisms of memory.
This renowned psychologist, Elizabeth Loftus, professor at the University of California at Irvine, was a key witness for the lawyers of the film producer in this emblematic trial of the #MeToo movement.
Since the trial began on January 22, jurors have heard six women recount the alleged sexual assaults of the former Hollywood mogul, memories of which have been at least six, if not almost 30, years old. accusatory.
Harvey Weinstein, 67, denies the charges against him and says these relationships were all agreed.
However, the older the memories, the more they can be distorted and the memory "contaminated" by false information or suggestions, said Loftus, when interviewed by a defense lawyer.
After five years, "there may be a substantial deterioration in memory," she said.
According to this expert who has already testified in some 300 trials, not only does the accuracy of memories deteriorate over the years, but memory also becomes "more vulnerable to information subsequent to the event", capable of transforming its reality.
She took the example of witnesses who, eager to provide details about an event they experienced, "put forward something that is only a hypothesis, and then have the impression that it is a memory" .
She also felt that events which, at the time, had "not been traumatic or overwhelming" could become so in our memories, provided others have "labeled" them as such.
Experiments have shown, according to the psychologist, that by dint of suggestions or misleading information, false memories of childhood can be "planted" in the minds of some people.
Among the information likely to distort memories, she cited media coverage of an event. Charges of sexual assault against Harvey Weinstein have been making the headlines in the US media since October 2017.
The memory can also be distorted from the start, if the person was at the event under the influence of alcohol or certain drugs, she added, citing in particular valium.
Actress Annabella Sciorra testified on January 23 that she was taking valium before she was allegedly raped by Mr. Weinstein in the early 1990s.
- Towards difficult deliberations -
During cross-examination of the prosecution, Ms. Loftus nevertheless qualified her remarks.
She noted that memories lasted longer when the event was particularly dramatic or traumatic, as is usually the case with a sexual assault.
She also acknowledged that, in more than 40 years of practice, her testimony, which can cause juries to doubt the victims' accounts, had been almost exclusively requested by the defense, making her a controversial expert.
One thing is certain: this high-profile trial is coming to an end.
Lawyers for the producer, who faces life sentence if convicted, said Friday they had only four or five witnesses to call.
The depositions could therefore end in the middle of the week and the jurors begin to deliberate on the weekend, about two weeks earlier than expected.
The outcome of the deliberations looks very uncertain, according to several experts.
The key notion of consent is "much more ambiguous" and "complicated" in this case than in Bill Cosby, a former television star convicted in April 2018 of sexual assault, said Pace law professor Bennett Gershman University and former prosecutor.
Even though "several alleged victims have given strong testimony" against Harvey Weinstein, their motivations appear "contrasting," he said.
On the one hand, "they wanted to avoid his repulsive and threatening advances," he continues, "but on the other, he was powerful, they wanted to advance their careers, and perhaps the only way to get there was to give in to his advances. "
Jurors, who must reach a unanimous verdict at the risk of having the trial canceled, "may see (Mr. Weinstein) as a dangerous predator, or find that the women were consenting victims," he said.
"All it takes is a juror who doesn't follow," said lawyer Julie Rendelman.
"I think they will have a hard time reaching a verdict."
© 2020 AFP