NEW YORK CITY _ A judge in New York City on Thursday rejected a motion to dismiss charges of sexual assault against former Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein and decided criminal prosecution against him can continue.
In October 2017, dozens of women came forward to accuse Weinstein of a wide array of misconduct. He was arrested by the New York Police Department in May and charged in Manhattan with forcing former actress Lucia Evans to perform oral sex on him in 2004; attacking another woman, Mimi Haleyi, in 2006; and sexually assaulting an unidentified woman in a hotel in 2013. The Times typically does not name women who make accusations of sexual assault, but Haleyi and Evans have told their stories in public.
Prosecutors dropped the charge related to Evans' accusation in October after questions were raised about inconsistencies in her testimony. Weinstein's attorney, Benjamin Brafman, has since argued that Evans' "perjured" testimony poisoned a grand jury against the movie mogul and called for all charges to be dropped.
In court filings, Brafman also has pointed to email communications that took place between the remaining accusers and Weinstein after the dates of the alleged assaults. In one case, Brafman claims, an accuser attended a movie screening with Weinstein mere hours after she said he assaulted her in 2013.
"The emails demonstrate that these women who now allege sexual assault by Mr. Weinstein have for years engaged in loving and often intimate conversations with him before and after the date of the alleged assault," Brafman wrote in a November filing.
Prosecutors have repeatedly scoffed at Brafman's motions _ which have also alleged misconduct by police and prosecutors during the investigation _ and claimed he is simply trying to wage a public relations campaign. Others have pointed out that the continued communications between the accusers and Weinstein are far from exculpatory, considering the women had aspirations in Hollywood, where Weinstein wielded considerable influence.
