Judge SLAMS Russell Brand in Disturbing Rape Case

The whole episode reeks of casual. disrespect and your [music] belief that. fame meant you could act how you liked. when you liked unhindered [music] by the. rules by which decent people live. >> As you just saw from that clip from. Guardian News, [music] Russell Brand was. officially sentenced for his sex crimes. convictions out in a London courtroom. That's what we [music] want to talk. about right now. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber.

Comedian and actor Russell Brand has. officially been sentenced for sex crimes. out in the UK. It was last week when we. covered this on Sidebar how he was. convicted by a London jury of one count. of rape and three counts of sexual. assault. So, according to reports from. the Mirror and the BBC, Russell Bran was. found guilty of groping a woman at a. London bar during a party in 2004. He. was also convicted of kissing and. groping a Choice FM worker at the. Capitol radio building in 2005, plus.

sexually assaulting a Channel 4 worker. in 2009. This is when she had been. forced to give him a massage. The rape. conviction involved a 21-year-old fan. who met Brand after a stand-up show in. 2009. Now, he was cleared of two counts. of rape and one count of attempted. indecent assault, but we knew going into. today that he was facing significant. prison time. That's what even the court. told him to expect. And it was last week. when we even saw parts of his interview. with investigators. >> Thank you for your time today. As I've.

repeatedly stated publicly and written. about extensively, I led a very. promiscuous life in the past, which I've. spent years openly denouncing. I've. never engaged in non-consensual sexual. activity. On the 16th of September 2023, a. defamatory and fictitious documentary. was broadcast in conjunction with the. publication of two national newspapers. containing false anonymized allegations. which led to unprecedented media.

reporting. Subsequently, both the media. and the police publicly invited. additional allegations to be made which. has resulted in further encounters being. invented or reimagined. At present, I do not recall the names of. complainants or meeting them. However, it's entirely possible that I may have. encountered them and that we may have. engaged in consensual sexual activity or. physical contact that has been since. reimagined. >> The now 51-year-old Brand claimed that. he was being targeted by defamatory.

statements, including during a 2023. documentary expose, admitted that he may. have been promiscuous, but that. everything was consensual. Well, he went. to trial. His trial got underway in. October at Southwork Crown Court. Lasted. weeks. Prosecutors built this narrative. against Brand as a manipulative sexual. predator. Victims got up in the dock, testified about what Bran reportedly did. to them. Some of the allegations were. going back years back to 1999. Brand. also testified in his own defense. His.

current wife, Laura, gave character. evidence in support of her husband, but. he was convicted. And now we have to. talk about what happened. this morning. with his sentence. What happened in. court? So, even though there were no. cameras allowed during the trial and no. cameras allowed for the initial part of. this sentence, as you'll see, there were. cameras allowed for the judge's. comments. We'll get to that, but for. this part, I just have to tell you what. happened in court. This is based on.

excellent reporting by outlets like Page. Six and the BBC and Sky News. So. reportedly the courtroom was filled with. Russell Bran's family and supporters. like his wife, his father. Bran was. remanded into custody following the. guilty verdicts last week. He was. brought back into court today after the. weekend, apparently wearing the same. suit that he had on when he was in court. when he found out he was convicted. This. is per Sky News. Now, Page Six even. reported that as he came in, he looked. over to his wife Laura before taking a.

seat and mouthed, "Are you okay?" But. according to the BBC, he apparently. didn't show any emotion as the. proceedings began. So, what happened. today, and as we see this also in United. States courtrooms and criminal trials, victim impact statements were read. I'll. explain what happened. And this is a. little different than we have here in. the United States. Apparently, um, at. least one of them, maybe all of them, spoke behind a curtain, so you can't see. them. Um, again, and that's different. from what we do here. But this first.

victim reportedly described that after. Bran's attack on her, she quote, "Literally lost any love for myself for. a long time." She described how she was. left feeling like she was damaged goods. that seeing Bran's star rise over the. year, his fame left her feeling quote. physically sick. Sky News reported that. while Bran didn't seem to show any kind. of emotion to this or reaction, his wife. Laura was shaking her head. He was. apparently holding a set of rosary.

beads, by the way, as this was going on. Then a second victim had a victim impact. statement read on her behalf by the. prosecutor and she talked about the. neverending fear after being sexually. assaulted by brand in 2009. How what. happened to her is something that she. carries with her every day. Then a third. victim had a victim impact statement. read on her behalf by the prosecutor. She was attacked by Brand in 2005 and. she told the court about the lasting.

impact of the assault, how it's affected. her relationships with colleagues and. her work, and how she was even. recommended therapy. She added, quote, "Russell Brand has managed to move on. and even forget that he sexually. assaulted me violently in a very public. place and in front of people." Then the. prosecutor spoke. Prosecutor Realel. Carmy Jones, KC, asked the court to. deliver a tough sentence for the. comedian, emphasizing the quote. degradation and humiliation that his. victims endured. Carmy Jones categorized.

Brand as a category one predator. Then. Russell Brand's defense lawyer spoke. This is Ian Winter, KC, and he requested. leniency for his client. How he is a. quote fundamentally different person. Now, this is per reporting by Sky News. that the four incidents were isolated, that they don't demonstrate a pattern, that this happened in a time when. Russell Bran was struggling to deal with. his rise to stardom, that fame, that. it's been more than 15 years since a.

report of a last sexual assault. Now, the judge apparently jumped in here and. said, quote, "To say he got away with it. for 17 years is not necessarily a huge. piece of mitigation, is it?" Now, Winter. described the rape as quote, "quite a. short momentary total failure to respect. her consent." How it happened after. consensual sex. He challenged the notion. that this victim was quote a vulnerable. person, but acknowledged Bran quote went.

too far. And Winter also spoke about. Bran's wife, Laura, how she's. devastated, that it can't really be put. into words what she's going through, that the couple can't figure out what to. tell their 10-year-old child about. what's happening. He asked for the court. to consider Brand as a father and a. husband, calling him quote, "A man of. effectively good character." Now, the. BBC reports that before Bran was. officially sentenced, there was a break. in the court and that is when Brand. reportedly mouthed to his wife, "I love.

you." After the break, proceedings. resumed. Now, this was the only time. that cameras were allowed in that. courtroom. So, I want to play you a. portion of what the judge said here. This is Justice Joel Benthan. >> Victim gave an account which I accept. without reservation. She said, and I quote, he said, "I I grabbed me by. my face and started to kiss me. He was.

pushing his body against mine, walking. me backwards, so my back was against the. wall. The three men and a woman were. stood there. He was just kissing me. He. was very frenzy. No greeting, no time. for me to understand what went on. This. was a perfect stranger who just grabbed. me and ran his hands over my body while. I had my back against the wall. The kiss. was hard and sloppy. He kissed me all. down my neck. His hands were at that.

same time all over me. He touched my bum and my breasts with. his other hands just pinning me against. the wall with his body was pressed up. against me so I was not able to move. It. was rough. Very, very rough. He touched. my breasts hard. He squeezed my breasts. I was in shock. The others did nothing. I looked at the woman. I looked at her. She didn't say anything, nor did the.

men. They did not move. It was the. middle of my working day. The. prosecution suggested that the victim in. count three was quote particularly. vulnerable unquote as she had had a few. drinks. And they say the same of the. victim in count six because she was 11. years your junior and she admired you. In your trial, I saw both women give. evidence at length. They were both. accomplished women who took perfectly.

reasonable decisions to go to a party. and have a few drinks or to go to your. house for one type of consensual sex. They were no more or less vulnerable. than any adult woman making those. choices. I pause to add and stress at. once, the fact they did so in no way, shape, or form diminishes your. culpability for sexually assaulting one. and raping the other. Whatever women.

wear, wherever they go, indeed whatever. they drink, they retain the right to say. no and to to demand justice from the. criminal courts when sexual predators. like you, Ross Brand, act without their. consent. >> The justice said, "You committed sexual. offenses against a number of women over. a five-year period." He went into the. details of each of these episodes, described Russell Bran as someone who.

demonstrated an arrogant disregard of a. woman's right to say no, and really. emphasized that no matter what a woman. wears or where she goes or what she. drinks, she retains the right to say no. Now, for mitigation, because he. considered some of the things that were. put forward by the defense, took off a. year from the rape charge. There was no. pre-sentencing report in this case. The. justice also paid tribute to the bravery. of the women who came forward that it. didn't necessarily increase the. punishment of it but recognized that. they were confronted as liars or that.

they agreed to it and that this. challenge was put forward by Russell. Brand and he also commended the. Metropolitan Police. So what happened? Bran received nine months on count. three, 18 months on count five, eight. months on count seven, all sexual. assault convictions. Those sentences. will run concurrently with one another, meaning at the same time, but. consecutive to his 9year sentence for.

rape. So that brings his total prison. sentence to 10 years and six months. Something to note also, this is. according to the BBC. So Brand is. predicted he's likely to serve twothirds. of his sentence in custody. This is. apparently according to the sentencing. council. And the council states that. offenders that are jailed for four years. or more for some serious violent or. sexual offenses. They'll be released at. the twothirds point. Once released, he's. likely to spend the rest of his sentence.

on license and he'll have to abide by. specific rules such as wearing a tag. His sentence will not be included in the. new early release scheme. Sex offenders. along with murderers are exempt from the. scheme. But that kind of gives you an. idea about what we can expect for. Russell Brand and how much time he may. serve behind bars. Real quick for. anybody who owns a business, runs a. business, manages a business. You don't. need me to tell you that running a. business is tough enough. But why make. it harder doing things manually or. relying on dozens of apps that don't. really talk to each other, right? That's.

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exactly what it's like representing, you. know, celebrities in these very intense, high-profile cases. Bradford Cohen. Bradford, thanks for taking the time. First, I just got to ask you, you know, uh 10 and a half years in prison. quite. significant, but it was also, I think, what we were expecting when the judge. said last week, expect a lengthy prison. sentence. >> Yeah. I mean, this this judge really did. u telescope exactly what he's going to. do. So, it wasn't a shocker to most. people. I I did think he was going to.

get a lengthy prison sentence. In my. opinion, I thought a lengthy prison. sentence was going to be somewhere in. the neighborhood of seven years. Like. the the the underover was really six, seven years. And then when he gave him. the 10 and a half, it wasn't a shocker, but at the same token, I don't think a. lot of people expected him to get 10 and. a half. Maybe because they thought, "Okay, he's famous. Who knows what's. going on, but don't don't forget, you. know, we've seen this happen before.". You know, the the one with the That 70s. show, Danny Madison, Matson or whatever.

his name was. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> Matter. He got, you know, what 25 years. He got a long sentence. though, like. they're not taking this that this isn't. your typical, oh, this person's famous, we're not going to give him a lot of. time, which I have never experienced. I've only experienced whenever I. represent someone high-profile that it. is a detriment that they're high. profile. Because isn't the argument that. they are given a certain level of. resources and opportunity and chance and. power that um that you know John Smith.

doesn't have and that it's being used in. that way to victimize people to hurt. people right so the I think the thing. that you get from the judges and look. the judge had a little mitigation took a. year off for the rape charge because of. um you know certain considerations he's. a father husband and look some of the. sentences for the other the sexual. sexual assaults were run concurrently, not consecutively, but and it adds up in. the end to to 10 and a half years. But I.

think at the same thing, you hear from. the judge, you hear from the court, you. hear from the prosecutor. It's the level. of fame. It's what Russell Bran was. doing. It's how he had access to these. people that I think really really is. what makes it egregious and what why you. see the higher penalties. >> Generally speaking, yes, I do agree with. everything you said. What's unusual is. sometimes when you represent like a. police officer who has that same kind of. position of power that does something. that abuses that position or a doctor.

that abuses that position. Sometimes you. don't see judges going as far as they. could on those individuals because they. weigh like when it comes to a police. officer, they say, "Hey, well, he did. good for 10 years even though now he's. not a good guy. Uh, I'm not going to max. him out. I'm not going to give him this. In this instance, everything just worked. against him. I don't think he's like he. wasn't particularly altruistic during. his career. I think that those things.

also weigh very heavily into a sentence. in terms of the type of person they were. prior to this incident. Now, don't. forget this incident took place 15 years. ago. So, since then, you know, it could. have been was he altruistic after that? would, you know, was he going to all. these different things? And I'm sure his. his attorneys argued that, but I don't. know if particularly that we've seen. that from him being particularly. altruistic and going to, you know,

hospitals or whatever and all this other. stuff that usually weighs heavily in. your favor. I haven't seen a lot of. that. So, you know, I think there was an. opportunity when these accusations come. up, there's an opportunity there to. really kind of uh do a PR push and. really focus on the type of individual. he became after this incident, but I. don't think that was really done here. nor do I know if they had evidence that. he became a different person other than.

being married and having a kid. obviously, but other than that, >> his defense attorney told the court that. he's a fundamentally different person. But look, I wanted to ask you this, too. >> When you're in that position, you're. representing somebody who's been. convicted and they're about to be. sentenced. What are the conversations. you have with them leading up to the. sentencing? And in that moment when. you're standing next to them and they're. about to be sentenced and let's say it's. not a situation where you know exactly. what the sentence is going to be. There. could be a range. What are those.

conversations and what is that what is. that moment like in court? >> So you know listen this is I always tell. people it's one of the most difficult. jobs you can possibly have because you. are you know their hopes and dreams are. all pinned on you. If you do a bad job, that could be the difference between. five years and 15 years. Generally. speaking, judges have an idea of where. they're going. But like let's take for. instance, you know, in federal cases, it's very difficult to get an exact, you.

know, there's a range there. Judges. could depart. There's all kinds of. different things that can happen. Like. for example, I'll take Pushis's case, Lantrell Williams, that I represented. him on his first case. He's got another. case now. But we showed up armed to the. to the teeth with examples of why the. judge shouldn't give him I think they. were seeking 11 years. And we had. experts we went through. It was almost. like a mini trial. And at the end of. that he ended up getting about uh five.

years which was I think a little less. than five years which was a substantial. um decrease and it was also what the. government didn't want which you don't. usually see. So when we go into those. situations, we talk to everybody, we say. like, "Hey, this is the worst case. scenario. This is the best case. scenario. I would prepare myself in. terms of getting things ready at home.". I mean, it's just so many things that. you go through that are horrible. And. then when after the person gets. sentenced, I'm I mean, me personally, I'm not off the case. I stay on the.

case. I talk to them every week or every. two weeks. They're emailing me from. prison or jail asking me about different. situations. So, we are always good. criminal defense attorneys are always. with their client from the beginning to. the end. It's always nerve-wracking the. day of sentencing uh because no one. wants to get to that point and. especially when you don't have a real. idea of where it can go. In this one, the judge said be prepared for a lengthy. sentence. So, that conversation was.

probably not a pleasant one to have with. the criminal defense attorney that was. on the case. What's his life like behind. bars uh as a celebrity? >> So, a couple things. Uh individuals that. are accused of rape and convicted of. rape usually do not have a good time in. jail. That is not a a place where um. that type of crime goes over real big. Uh especially when it comes to uh. children and things of that nature. That's they put them in a completely. separate wing to their own selves. Um.

but even when it's not and it's. something like this, especially him. being who he is and being famous, it's. going to be a very difficult um run in. prison. My guess is they'll put him in. some sort of solitary confinement. Uh I. don't know for sure, but generally when. they're high-profile, if they're police. officers or prior police officers or. individuals that of note, um the the. prisons usually keep them in solitary. confinement. Some people refuse it. Some.

people will say, "I've had a lot of. rappers that I represented. They feel. that that's showing some sort of. weakness to get sent into solitary. confinement and they want to walk the. yard." And you saw what the results were. from the Tory Lanes uh case where he was. not in in solitary confinement and then. he was injured very badly when they were. on the yard by getting into a a fight. with an individual. So, you know, there's a lot of considerations. I don't. know how England works in terms of their. jail. Uh but my guess would be there's.

going to be a shot caller there, meaning. someone who's in charge of the prison. who is an inmate uh for different gangs, different sections. Uh there's usually. white guys, black guys, everybody has. their own click. Um and they'll want him. to click up with somebody. It's it's a. horrible situation. It really is. And. and I think that for the most part, he. would be sent to solitary confinement, but we'll see how that that shakes out. for him. You know, it's it's interesting. when you look at this case because. before it went to trial, it wasn't a.

foregone conclusion that he was going to. be convicted. You know, sexual assault. cases, rape cases can be difficult uh to. prove in any kind of situation, but. particularly if you're talking about. allegations from years ago. Um but at. the same time, having these women. testify and you know, um I think maybe a. strength in numbers as well, but you. know, and the judge kind of highlighted. it. remarked about the bravery of these. women coming forward and being, you. know, characterized as liars or that. they agreed to everything. And there was.

one instance where there was a claim. that there was first consensual activity. and then non-consensual activity, but. clearly even though there was a quiddles. of certain charges, this was a win for. the prosecution. Are you surprised that. there was uh so many convictions in this. case? So, you know, when it comes to these. type of cases, they are difficult, especially the ones where at first. there's consent, then there's not. consent. Um, or both individuals are.

under the influence, not necessarily uh. that they can't consent to it, but they. might have a couple drinks in them and. uh inhibitions come down. There's a lot. that goes into these cases where, you. know, you've seen people that are not. truth tellers that um take the stand and. and they're very obviously proven that. they're not truth tellers. That hurts. everyone who actually makes these type. of accusations because then everyone. gets labeled a non-truth teller. It's a.

very tough road for individuals that are. victims of uh sexual abuse. Um. especially where it comes down to. consent, not consent, and or they were. dating or the woman reached out to him. first. Uh things of that nature really. come in to hurt those cases. So, am I. surprised by it? um more surprised I. guess now than I would have been five or. six years ago during you know really the. heavy parts of the me too movement where.

it seemed like every woman that made an. accusation was taken as truthful. I. think people have pulled back from that. and really take a look at the facts and. the circumstances of each case. So I. think it has become more difficult to. get convictions in those cases but um. but not obviously not impossible as as. is in this case. There was just there. always is strength in numbers if there's. multiple people that are testifying. about kind of a an MO a mode of operandi.

and and you know this is what happens. you know I meet them after the stage and. then this happens and this happens and. it's kind of like an ongoing theme. It's. very difficult to say every single woman. is lying when there's, you know, multiple women. And you saw that in a. lot of different cases. You know, there. was the real estate brothers that had. multiple women come in and say, "Hey, this is kind of how they operate. You. know, we get drunk or go do drugs and. then all of a sudden I wake up the next. day." Um, certain things like that.

always hurt sexual um abuse cases. If. there's one victim, it's often much. tougher to get a conviction than if. there's five. >> And for anybody who says, "Oh, you know, this is a jury that just was going to. find him guilty immediately," they they. when you see a jury split on the. charges, right, when you see a jury who. actually acquits him of certain counts. and finds him guilty of others, to me, that signifies a jury that carefully. considered the evidence. I mean, you may. not agree with it one way or another, but that's a jury that really parsed out.

each allegation carefully, in my. opinion. Yeah, I I would agree with. that. I I think that, you know, when you. have a a jury that finds uh not guilty. on some and guilty on the other ones, uh. it it really negates the argument that. they were out for blood and they were. going to convict them on everything. Like the Harvey Weinstein case, I think. he got convict the first time around. I. think he got convicted of every charge. So, like, you know, it's it it also. comes down unfortunately it comes down. to the defendant, too. how the defendant.

looks, his attitude, um the the way that. people perceive him. And um you know, same with Harvey Weinstein. Harvey. Weinstein did not have a good perception. in the public in terms of this type of. of incident. I I don't think that um. Russell Brand had that good of a. reputation when it came to um you know, women and how women were treated. And. whether or not that was part of his. shtick or that was his real life, um I I. just don't see where that helped him.

whatsoever. And I think the people that. were on that jury probably also knew. about his reputation. That being said, he was found not guilty of certain. charges. So they they waved that that. that wasn't one thing that they said. they just hung their hat on and. convicted him of everything. >> Yeah. All right. Well, look, I mean, this is quite a development. It's it's. shocking. you know, Russell Brand. sentenced to, you know, 10 and a half. years in prison. It's uh it's quite. significant on a number of different. levels. So, I really appreciate you. taking time, Bradford, to talk about it.

and uh you know, give us some inside. perspective on how these situations. unfold. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Jesse. >> It's all we have for you right now here. on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so much. for joining us. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time.