The final accuser at Harvey Weinstein's rape trial began giving evidence on Wednesday, where she is expected to detail how he groped her in a hotel bathroom as prosecutors push to show the once-powerful movie mogul had a habit of preying on women.
Model and actress Lauren Marie Young allege Weinstein stripped naked, masturbated in front of her and groped her breast, in the bathroom of his Beverly Hills hotel room, just days before the Oscars in February 2013.
"I was excited. I got ready. I put on my best dress," Ms Young, 30, testified on Wednesday, about first connecting with Weinstein at the hotel.
"I was excited to network and pitch my ideas," she said.
At some point Weinstein said "let's finish this conversation upstairs", explaining that he had to present an award to Quentin Tarantino, she added, before her evidence was interrupted by a lunch break.
Prosecutors have said a female friend of Weinstein's who was in the hotel there, shut the door and trapped Ms Young in the bathroom with him.
"Lauren, scared and disgusted, escaped the bathroom, shocked at (Weinstein's friend) who remained outside the bathroom door, gave a dirty look and fled, running home and hysterically recounting what happened to her two friends," prosecutor Meghan Hast said in an opening statement.
Ms Young is the third of three women who prosecutors are calling to bolster their effort to portray him as a serial offender, even though their accusations are not part of the underlying criminal charges at issue in the New York City 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.
The court heard Harvey Weinstein drew up a list of “red flag” women. Source: AP
Weinstein's New York trial involves just two allegations: that he raped a woman in March 2013, and forced oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006.
Weinstein, 67, has insisted any sexual encounters were consensual.
The Los Angeles County district attorney included Young's allegations in charges they filed against Weinstein on 6 January, just as his New York trial was getting underway.
Earlier on Wednesday, jurors heard from a former front desk manager who checked Weinstein into a midtown Manhattan hotel where one of the key accusers said he raped her in March 2013.
The testimony was meant to corroborate her claim that the defendant bullied his way into the hotel over her objections.
"Usually couples checking in are in a happy mood," Rothschild Capulong told the jury.
He added that he was so concerned about Weinstein's behaviour that he made a note in his end-of-shift report that security might want to check on his room.
