NEW YORK _ The lead NYPD detective in the Harvey Weinstein prosecution allegedly advised one of the Oscar winner's accusers to delete personal information from her cellphones before giving them to prosecutors.
The misconduct revelation came Wednesday in a two-page letter from prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon to defense attorney Benjamin Brafman, explaining that the Manhattan district attorney's office only learned about what happened last week.
According to the accuser, Detective Nicholas DiGaudio told her to "delete anything she did not want anyone to see before providing the phones to (prosecutors)," said Illuzzi-Orbon letter. "According to (the) complainant, Detective DiGuadio then added, 'We just won't tell Joan.'"
The reference was to prosecutor Illuzi-Orbon in the case of a woman who alleged that Weinstein raped her inside a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.
The phones were surrendered, with the accuser turning over the devices "without any deletions," the letter said. "The phones remain in the custody of our office."
Just last Thursday, criminal charges were dropped against Weinstein after the sordid tale of sexual abuse told by aspiring actress Lucia Evans was discredited.
"This new development further undermines the integrity of this already deeply flawed indictment of Mr. Weinstein," said Brafman.
Evans claimed that the Hollywood heavyweight forced her to perform oral sex on him back in 2004. But in an email written but never sent to her husband in 2015, Evans mentioned details of her alleged encounter with Weinstein that failed to match the tale that she told the prosecutors.
DiGaudio _ who is no longer involved in the Weinstein case _ also failed to inform the DA's office about important details gleaned from a friend of Evans regarding the accuser's relationship with the movie mogul.
The criminal charge against Weinstein based on Evans' allegation was subsequently thrown out.
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