Defence rests, closings next at Harvey Weinstein rape trial

Harvey Weinstein's defence team has rested its case and closing arguments will begin later Wednesday at the Los Angeles rape trial of the former movie magnate.

Harvey Weinstein's defence team has rested its case and closing arguments will begin later Wednesday at the Los Angeles rape trial of the former movie magnate.

Weinstein's lawyers called six witness as they sought to cast doubt on the accounts of the women who have accused Weinstein of raping or sexually assaulting them.

Defence witnesses included a firefighter and a former security guard who testified that a false fire alarm went off at a Los Angeles hotel around the time an Italian model and actor alleges Weinstein raped her in her room in February of 2013.

The accuser, who went by the name Jane Doe 1 during the trial, made no mention of the alarm in her testimony, though prosecutors established in their cross-examination of the guard that it may not have been heard on her floor.

One Weinstein accuser returned to the stand Wednesday to provide evidence that she was in Puerto Rico and worked as a dancer on a film produced by Weinstein's company Miramax, "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights."

The woman, known in court as Ashley M., was brought back by the prosecution as a rebuttal witness after the defence called the choreographer from the film to testify that she had no memory of working with her.

Ashley M. testified that call sheets from the film and pay stubs prove she was there. She has accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting her in a hotel room during the shooting of the film in 2003.