Harvey Weinstein Indicted By Grand Jury On Multiple Charges Of Rape & Sex Crimes
A grand jury indicted Harvey Weinstein on Wednesday on charges of raping one woman and committing a criminal sex act by forcing another woman to perform oral sex on him in New York. While Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. stated that he is happy that Weinstein is being held accountable for his actions, the producer’s attorney, Benjamin Brafman, has called the allegations “unsupported” and indicated that he would ask for a dismissal of charges according to Yahoo! News. Harvey continues to deny the charges.
Hours before the indictment was handed down, Brafman cited insufficient time for preparation as the reason 66-year-old Weinstein would not testify before the grand jury. They learned the identity of the accusers and the specific charges only after Harvey turned himself in Friday, and, according to Brafman, a request for delay in the Wednesday grand jury timeline was denied. He added that indictment was nearly certain because of “political pressure.”
“Regardless of how compelling Mr. Weinstein’s personal testimony might be, an indictment was inevitable due to the unfair political pressure being placed on Cy Vance to secure a conviction of Mr. Weinstein.”
Brafman’s reference to “political pressure” is likely due to Vance’s failure to prosecute Weinstein in 2015 for charges of groping by an Italian model. This was despite a recording obtained through a sting operation in which the model confronted the producer about his actions, and he apologized. Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered the state attorney general to look into Vance’s handling of that situation.
These are the first of dozens of sexual misconduct charges against the disgraced producer. Other charges range from sexual harassment to assault.
BREAKING: “A Grand Jury has voted to indict #HarveyWeinstein on charges of Rape in the First and Third Degrees, and Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree” https://t.co/xoLm2HG4vT
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) May 30, 2018
Weinstein continues to deny all claims of nonconsensual sex, and Brafman has called the rape charges “absurd.” He has declared confidence that he will “clear his name” and says that the woman who is accusing him of rape was involved in a consensual relationship with his client for 10 years. He states that the date on which the accuser claims Weinstein trapped her in a hotel room and raped her was in the midst of that consensual relationship.
Former actress Lucia Evans voluntarily went public with what she describes as a situation in which Weinstein forced her to perform oral sex on him.
Harvey Weinstein has been released on a $1 million bail and is being monitored electronically. His court date is currently scheduled for July 30, but in light of Wednesday’s indictment, that date may be moved up.
