A grand jury on Wednesday voted to indict Harvey Weinstein on charges of first- and third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act.
A grand jury on Wednesday voted to indict Harvey Weinstein on charges of first- and third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act. »This indictment brings the defendant another step closer to accountability for the crimes of violence with which he is now charged, » Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said. « Our office will try this case not in the press, but in the courtroom where it belongs. The defendant’s recent assault on the integrity of the survivors and the legal process is predictable. We are confident that when the jury hears the evidence, it will reject these attacks out of hand. »Weinstein surrendered to authorities in New York City on Friday to face charges stemming from accusations by two women. He declined to testify before the grand jury, with his lawyers saying there wasn’t enough time to prepare and that « political pressure » made an indictment unavoidable. A statement issued through a Weinstein spokesman said the former movie mogul learned the specific charges and the accusers’ identities only after turning himself, with a deadline set for Wednesday afternoon to testify or not. His request for more time was denied, the statement said. »Finally, Mr. Weinstein’s attorneys noted that 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, » the statement said, referring to Vance. He has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex, and his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said Tuesday that Weinstein was « confident he’s going to clear his name » in the New York prosecution. Brafman called the rape allegation « absurd, » saying that the accuser and Weinstein had a decade-long, consensual sexual relationship that continued after the alleged 2013 attack. The woman, who hasn’t been identified publicly, told investigators Weinstein confined her in a hotel room and raped her. The other accuser in the case, former actress Lucia Evans, has gone public with her account of Weinstein forcing her to perform oral sex at his office in 2004. The Associated Press does not identify alleged victims of sexual assaults unless they come forward publicly. Vance, a Democrat, came under public pressure from women’s groups to prosecute Weinstein after declining to do so in 2015, when an Italian model went to police to say Weinstein had groped her during a meeting. Police set up a sting in which the woman recorded herself confronting Weinstein and him apologizing for his conduct. But Vance decided there wasn’t enough evidence to bring charges. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, ordered the state attorney general to investigate how Vance handled that matter.
