A New York judge on Thursday dismissed one of the six criminal charges against Harvey Weinstein after prosecutors said they could not oppose the dismissal in light of information they had learned while investigating the case.
The dismissed charge concerned an alleged sexual assault of a woman by Mr Weinstein in 2004. Five other charges, involving alleged assaults of two other women, remain in the case in Manhattan's criminal court. Mr Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
The development was announced in court on Thursday morning with Mr Weinstein looking on. Judge James Burke agreed to dismiss allegations brought by one of three accusers in the case, Lucia Evans.
In a story The New Yorkerpublished a year ago Wednesday, Ms Evans accused Mr Weinstein of a sexual assault that allegedly occurred in 2004.
Remaining charges include allegations Mr Weinstein raped a woman in 2013 and forced a sex act on a different woman in 2006. Mr Weinstein says he is innocent.
His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said in court that he believes Mr Evans lied to the grand jury about what happened.
Mr Weinstein’s lawyers and prosecutors had been wrangling over the part of the indictment pertaining to Ms Evans in recent weeks in closed-door meetings and sealed court papers.
After the decision was announced, Ms Evans’ attorney denounced the Manhattan District Attorney in a press conference, saying, “Why is it so hard to hold rich, powerful predators responsible?”
She added, “Over 80 women have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment, assault.”
In a statement sent to The Independent, Ms Evans attorney, Carrie Goldberg, said “the prosecutor’s decision to abandon my client, Lucia Evans, does not invalidate the truth of her claims.”
“It does speak to a system that needs to be reformed,” she continued. “Let me be clear – the decision to throw away my client’s sexual assault charges says nothing about Weinstein’s guilt or innocence, nor does it reflect on Lucia’s consistent allegation that she was sexually assaulted with force by Harvey Weinstein. It only speaks volumes about the Manhattan DA’s office and its mishandling of my client’s case.”
Reporting agencies contributed to this story.
