good evening. at this new york city courthouse a verdict and a victory for the me too movement. harvey weinstein convicted, guilty of rape and criminal sexual assault. tonight, the voices of the women. >> i'm so happy, but i can't stop crying. i don't know. it's so weird. >> to hear he's convicted and he's in jail, it does -- this is good. >> vindication. >> it is vindication. >> reporter: the disgraced media mogul now a convicted rapist. stories and accusations from scores of women, coming forward in the last two years, paving the way for today. how the verdict in this landmark

case could be a game changer. >> many other women who've been watching, the victims, know courage is contagious. >> this special edition of "nightline," "voices of >> this special l be right back. n of "nightline," "voices of conviction," will be right back. grand now we have to deal withed us this.rs. climate change is an emergency. that's why i wrote the nation's most progressive climate law. and that's why i'm endorsing tom steyer. because when big oil tried to stop our clean air laws, he led us to victory.

same with the keystone pipeline. when tom says we can save the world and do it together believe him. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message. good evening. thanks for joining us. tonight a resounding verdict handed down in the new york city courtroom behind me.

in a trial lasting more than a month six women courageously told their stories of sexual assault by harvey weinstein. and today by convicting the former hollywood titan on two counts many who leveled accusations say they felt heard. >> wow. this is so crazy. like really crazy. >> reporter: this is the day ambra gutierrez thought would never come. >> there has been a verdict in the harvey weinstein rape trial. >> harvey weinstein found guilty of rape and criminal sexual assault. >> reporter: hers was that nervous voice on the audiotape secretly recorded five years ago. >> why yesterday you touch my breast? >> oh, please, i'm sorry, just come on. >> reporter: ambra confronting harvey weinstein while bravely wearing a wire for the nypd. >> i'm feeling very uncomfortable right now.

>> please come in now. >> reporter: in 2017 those tapes became public when ambra shared them with journalist ronan farrow. her courageous action helped set in motion an avalanche of accusations against the movie mogul. more than 90 women have accused weinstein of sexual misconduct including prominent hollywood actresses like rose mcgowan. >> i thought he was a warthog from hell. >> reporter: and ashley judd. >> i thought no meant no. >> reporter: today's verdict a day of reckoning for women like ambra, who say they finally feel heard. [ crying ] >> hi, rosanna. >> reporter: on the other end of that call, actress rosanna arquette, who also accused weinstein of sexual misconduct. >> i'm so happy but i can't stop crying. i don't know. it's so weird. i mean, i can't imagine how the others are feeling right now. you know? i'll call you later. bye-bye. >> reporter: weinstein, once one

of the most powerful men in hollywood, is in custody tonight, convicted of rape and sexual assault. >> when the bell rang, everybody was in shock. >> the jurors were uniformly stone-faced during the reading of the verdicts. this is a particularly dramatic moment. >> when he heard the word "guilty," definitely a lack of emotion, lack of anything on his face. i mean, he was shocked. >> reporter: the charges and convictions in this case are centered around the accusations of just women, jessica mann and mimi haleyi, who's represented by gloria allred. >> she has invested so much time in working with law enforcement and what was a very brutal cross-examination. and she went through all of that for the cause of justice. >> what was mimi's reaction? >> well, she's very happy. >> reporter: mimi haleyi was a production assistant on "project runway," a weinstein production. she says weinstein sexually assaulted her at his soho apartment in 2006. >> i told him no, no, no.

but he insisted. >> mimi testified that he grabbed her, tried to kiss her, she resisted, that he forced her onto the bed, that he pulled out her tampon and then engaged in a forced act of oral sex on her. >> reporter: the jury found weinstein guilty of criminal sexual assault tied to that incident. >> in the end these jurors clearly found her to be credible and they found her account to be credible. and it's important to remember that the other witnesses who testified in this case about harvey weinstein doing things very similar to them probably bolstered mimi haleyi's story as well. >> reporter: weinstein was also convicted of the third-degree rape of jessica mann, an aspiring actress who worked as a hairstylist. >> jessica mann's testimony was by far the most complicated and complex testimony throughout the

entire case because she admitted on the stand that while harvey weinstein allegedly raped her she continued a consensual relationship with him over the course of five years. >> reporter: the defense pointing to e-mails and text messages she sent to weinstein after the assault highlighting lines like "as always, i am happy to see your smile." "thank you for your unfailing support and kindness." "i love you. i always do. but i hate feeling like a booty call." communication purportedly showing her affection for weinstein. >> i think this case may lead to a better understanding of rape. how it can happen. when it can happen. to whom it can happen. and that could embolden prosecutors and victims to come forward more and take more chances in prosecuting cases that maybe ten years ago prosecutors would have thought they couldn't win. >> reporter: the disgraced hollywood power broker was acquitted on three other

charges, including first-degree rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault, avoiding a potential life sentence. >> this was about two cases, both of which had issues. and the fact that prosecutors got convictions on both of them is a big win. >> reporter: his lawyers are appealing. >> i was seated to his immediate left and he just looked at me and he just said, "i'm innocent. but i'm innocent. how could this happen in america? i'm innocent." and obviously that's a very difficult thing for the legal team to absorb because you feel somewhat like you failed him. but let's face it, the deck was stacked so heavily against him from the very beginning. >> i was surprised to hear that harvey weinstein was surprised at the verdict today and that he was saying "i'm innocent. i'm innocent." harvey, i can tell you this. you were presumed innocent

unless and until you were proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. that happened today. so you are no longer legally innocent. >> before the verdict was read three court officers surrounded harvey weinstein's chair. once he had been found guilty of two counts and the judge had made a decision to remand him without bail, those three court officers slowly lifted him up. he had very little expression on his face. it was very hard to tell what it was he was thinking. and they very slowly hobbled him out the side door of the courtroom and into custody for the first time in his life. >> reporter: weinstein's conviction caps a stunning fall from grace for the movie mogul. >> i would like to thank harvey weinstein. >> thank you to harvey. >> harvey. thank you for killing whoever you had to kill to get me up here today. >> harvey weinstein used to be this very charismatic guy, always the center of attention and life of the party. then in the courtroom you saw this man who looked old, feeble, and weak.

he was entering the courtroom with a walker. >> he apparently had a car accident over the summer. it caused nerve pain in his back. and as a result he has said or his attorneys have said he needed this walker. he got an operation on his back right before the trial. again, according to his defense team. the weinstein that we saw in court was a significantly different man than the one you see in the pictures of "people" magazine. >> reporter: prosecutors say weinstein used his significant power and influence to lure women in and then scare them into silence. women like ambra gutierrez. >> he asked me if my breast was real. and at that question it was like -- i didn't know how to answer. but i said yes. and i don't know how, but his hands were on my breast. and i freezed because i didn't know how to react to it.

then when he put his hand on my leg and asked me to kiss him, i moved myself away from it. >> reporter: ambra says she was a 22-year-old model when weinstein groped her at his new york office. >> i started to say, i'm sorry, i don't do these things, i need to know a person before being touched. and he said, "yes, okay. of course. i understand. maybe not here. i'll see you later for a drink." and he just walked out. >> reporter: she says she immediately went to the nypd, who asked her to meet weinstein again, this time wearing that wire. >> i'm very uncomfortable right now. >> please come in now. >> reporter: ambra says weinstein invited her to one of his shows, and then took her to a hotel afterwards. undercover detectives were waiting at the bar. >> yesterday you touched my breast. >> oh, please. i'm sorry. come on. i'm used to that. >> you're used to that? >> yes. come in. >> i'm not used to that. >> reporter: ambra says she left quickly and handed the recording

over to police. >> i was so happy. i thought he would have gone to jail at that time, that they put him in jail right away. and then everything unfolded into my worst nightmare. >> reporter: despite the evidence the manhattan district attorney's office declined to prosecute her case. she never got her day in court, making today's verdict even more poignant. >> i'm working so much right now on getting back the years that i lost. but the fact that at least i'm getting there, it makes me feel alive. i think many other women who've been watching, victims, know that courage can be rewarded. and i say courage is contagious. >> reporter: when we come back, we take you inside the courtroom with one of the women who testified against harvey weinstein. >> i had never replayed it for anybody like that before. that was definitely the hardest. because when you say it out loud it becomes a little more real.

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tonight, the conviction of a former media mogul. a watershed moment for some women. now taking back the narrative after living for years in silence. tonight their powerful voices and brave stories. they are among the first women to come forward against harvey weinstein, the original silence breakers. actress rosanna arquette and rose mcgowan, praising today's conviction. >> it's a step in the right direction. it's vindication for all the

women being harmed. it gives hope to other victims that when they report a crime their voices will be heard. >> today is a powerful day and a huge step forward in collective healing. >> reporter: today's verdict a watershed moment for the more than 90 women who say weinstein assaulted them, including tarale wulff, who testified against weinstein in court. >> harvey weinstein is now a convicted rapist. what goes through your mind? >> hearing it said so bluntly and cleanly, it's landing. it's landing heavy right now. nobody wants to offend you or nobody wants to see you cry like this. but i want to. i want to let it out. because i've been holding it back for so long. >> vindication. >> it is vindication. >> reporter: tarale was a 28-year-old waitress and aspiring actress at a trendy new york restaurant when she first met the hollywood mogul. >> where i worked we were told who people were when they walked in, if they had a name of sorts. we were always warned so that we

you know, made sure they had the best service or felt like they were important. >> reporter: she was asked by prosecutors to testify about her own story to help bolster the case and establish a pattern of behavior. >> what was it like to speak in a packed courtroom and to be under the harsh glare of defense cross-examination? >> the physical aspect of walking into the courtroom it's overwhelming and intimidating. >> reporter: she testified that after being manipulated into meeting weinstein at his apartment he held her down and raped her. >> i think it's important to understand what somebody like tarale or the other women testified to really had to go through. i don't think anything could prepare anyone frankly for walking into that room with 100 journalists, with a group of defense lawyers sitting at the table and harvey weinstein looking very menacing. you know, when she was raped and then have to go -- undergo a cross-examination. that is not easy for anyone. >> how did harvey weinstein use his power against you?

>> i apologize for the pause but -- >> no, take your time. >> the intimidation of his demeanor. his stature both in his own mind and ego and his physical stature, which is incredibly different from what he looks like today. even his network of who he knows when he walks into a room. his association with at the time my boss. >> so the defense basically accused you of not remembering certain things, or that it was too fragmented. >> knowing how long ago my event happened, i guess we kind of assumed that that's what they would go for, but what was reminded -- what i was reminded of by other people and i kept telling myself, you know your truth, you know your story. my story has not changed. i had never replayed it for anybody like that before. >> that publicly certainly. >> that publicly. that was definitely the hardest

because when you say it out loud it becomes a little more real and when it stayed inside of me it was my story, my secret and didn't have to be real. but that's also part of the cleansing, is to say it out loud. and then the other hurdles were what about me would come under attack. >> and what was it like to face harvey weinstein? >> to be honest, i avoided looking over when i walked through and sat down. there was a moment when i felt like i needed to. for some strange reason i did glance over and it sort of got me a little. i went -- i needed to kind of retract a little bit and sit back and realize i'm not here for that. >> are you glad you testified? >> i'm so glad i did. >> why? >> because of how i feel right now. as you said earlier, that gloria said courage is contagious. it got me to come forward and it's getting other people to come forward. that's what i'm getting from

this. i hope other people are too. >> reporter: weinstein's conviction a major legal victory for the "me too" movement. are you proud? >> i've heard the word proud, brave, and courage a lot directed at me, and i haven't quite registered that yet. i'm trying to. and i think it's really humbling. so it does bring out this emotion. i'm not quite there yet, but i think i will love to embrace that word. proud. >> it's not only a teaching moment for harvey weinstein. but it is also for other rich powerful famous men who have committed acts of gender violence against women, who've raped them or sexually assaulted them or sexually abused them, and who thought they can get away with it. >> reporter: gloria allred has spent her career fighting for women's rights. she's become a tireless force in the "me too" era, representing dozens of women with allegations against famous and powerful men

including three of the women who testified at weinstein's trial. >> i call this the legal reckoning, which was done because so many brave women spoke out. >> reporter: brave women like ambra gutierrez, who helped turn the tide. today amidst the chaos outside the courtroom there was a brief moment for the two women to finally meet face to face. >> nice to meet you. thank you so much for your courage. >> thank you so much for doing whatever you did. thank you. >> i'm very proud of my clients. are you happy about the result today? >> yeah. of course. i was -- i mean, the trauma that i lived in 2015 i felt, you know, this anxiety every single day. now i'm waiting for the result. it's kind of like i wanted to be here to get a new memory of the positive. >> that's good. >> i'm very happy. >> this is all because of the courage of women. as lawyers we can't do it

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finally tonight, harvey weinstein will be sentenced on march 11th. he also faces a second trial in los angeles, where he's charged with four counts of sexual assault. we'll have continuing coverage on abcnews.com. that's "nightline" for tonight. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america.

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