The actress took the stand on Thursday to emotionally recount the night Weinstein allegedly assaulted her.
Actress Annabella Sciorra took the stand in the Harvey Weinstein trial on Thursday to testify about the night that the powerful producer allegedly raped her.
According to multiple reports, Sciorra became emotional as she recalled the night in late 1993 or early 1994 when Weinstein allegedly forced himself through the door of her New York City apartment and pushed her down onto her bed.
"As I was trying to get him off of me -- I was punching him, I was kicking him -- and he took my hands and put them over my head, he put my hands over my head to hold them back and he got on top of me and he raped me," Sciorra reportedly told the jury.
The former Sopranos star is one of four witnesses the prosecution is planning to call in the ongoing trial. Weinstein has denied all allegations of sexual assault made against him.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Sciorra went on to detail the attack, adding, "And I didn’t have very much fight left inside me at this point. I said, 'No, no.' But there was not much I could do at that point. My body shut down. It was just so disgusting that my body started to shake in a way that was very unusual. I didn’t even really know what was happening. It was like a seizure or something."
According to the New York Times, Sciorra also testified that she confronted Weinstein about the alleged assault several weeks later, when she saw him at a restaurant and recalled him allegedly telling her, "This remains between you and I." She also acknowledged that she never called the police to report the alleged incident, saying she was "confused."
However, she added in her testimony that the aftermath of the alleged attack led to destructive behavior on her part, testifying that she began abusing alcohol and cutting to cope with the emotional trauma.
Sciorra first came forward with her allegations against Weinstein in an October 2017 New Yorker article by Ronan Farrow, joining other high-profile accusers like Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, Paz de la Huerta and more. Due to the New York statute of limitations, her allegations against Weinstein are not part of the criminal charges in the current case, but her testimony is being used by the prosecution to build their case against the media mogul.
In this ongoing criminal case, Weinstein has been accused of raping an unidentified woman at a Midtown hotel in Manhattan in March 2013 as well as forcing oral sex on a production assistant named Mimi Haleyi at his New York City apartment in 2006. He faces two counts of rape, one count of criminal sexual act and two counts of predatory sexual assault. Currently free on bail via a $2 million insurance company bond, Weinstein maintains that his sexual encounters with the women were consensual and has pleaded not guilty to those charges. He faces a maximum of life in prison if found guilty.
On the first day of Weinstein's trial, actresses and accusers Rosanna Arquette, Louise Godbold, Sarah Ann Masse, Rose McGowan and Lauren Sivan spoke outside the courthouse while cloaked in similar red clothing. While addressing reporters, Arquette said, "As one of the silence breakers, I stand in solidarity with the brave survivors who will take the stand against Harvey Weinstein in this trial. While emotion of the days runs high, I joined these other women who were also harmed by Harvey Weinstein to say we aren't going anywhere."
See more on the trial in the video below.
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