Russell Brand convicted of rape and sexual assault by London jury
A London jury found former Hollywood comedian and right-leaning online commentator Russell Brand guilty of one rape count and three sexual assault counts, while acquitting him on three other charges. He was taken into custody and is due to be sentenced on Monday.
A London jury has found Russell Brand guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, bringing a dramatic end to a criminal case that has followed the former Hollywood actor and comedian for more than a year. The jury at Southwark Crown Court also acquitted him of two other rape counts and one count of attempted indecent assault. Brand, 51, had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The verdict came after two days of deliberation at the close of a trial that lasted about three weeks. The jury's split decision meant that Brand was convicted on four counts and cleared on three, a result that left the courtroom with both a conviction and a set of acquittals to weigh. Following the verdict, the presiding judge said a custodial sentence was all but certain, and Brand was taken into custody. Sentencing has been scheduled for Monday.
During the trial, several women testified about alleged sexual misconduct by Brand. One accuser described an alleged assault in 1999 and characterized his behavior as «lizard-like», a description that became one of the more striking phrases heard in the proceedings. Another told the court that he raped her and wanted to push further. The jury heard these accounts as the prosecution built its case, and it was ultimately asked to judge each count separately.
Brand's wife, Laura, also gave evidence in his defense. She described him as a good husband and father, offering a personal portrait of the man who stood trial. The defense case rested in part on that character testimony, while the women who spoke against him described events they said had left lasting effects. The jury weighed both sets of testimony before reaching its verdicts.
Brand built his public profile in Hollywood comedy, appearing in films including Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek. In recent years he reinvented himself as a right-leaning online commentator with a large following, a shift that carried him into the political media conversation and widened his audience beyond film. His legal troubles became part of that public story. Last year, the commentator Tucker Carlson publicly urged the Trump administration to intervene after the charges were filed, drawing the case into the American political debate.
The conviction marks a sharp turn for a figure who had cultivated a high-profile identity across entertainment and online commentary. For the women who testified, the verdict represents the outcome of a trial in which their accounts were tested in open court. With sentencing set for Monday, the court will determine the length of the custodial term that the judge has indicated is almost certain, and the case will close one chapter of a public career that had been built on both comedy and political commentary.
Source: rawstory.com
7
