Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein will face rape charges in New York after Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James Burke rejected his bid to dismiss charges.
Burke set a pre-trial hearing for March 7.
From CNN:
“We are obviously disappointed that the court did not dismiss the indictment, but Judge (James) Burke has ruled, and we intend to continue to vigorously defend this case to the best of our ability,” Weinstein’s attorney, Ben Brafman, said outside the Manhattan courthouse.Weinstein, 66, has pleaded not guilty to five felony charges, including predatory sexual assault and rape, in connection with two women in separate incidents. Thursday’s hearing came in response to a motion filed by Brafman to dismiss the remaining counts or to hold evidentiary hearings on whether certain witnesses can testify.The judge denied both requests, saying the defendant can explore witness credibility issues at trial, court documents show.
Since October 2017, over 80 females have accused Weinstein of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. The expose into his sleazy behavior birthed the #MeToo movement.
In October, a judge dismissed one of the six charges against Weinstein after the prosecutors admitted that the lead detective on the case did not tell them that one witness doubted one of the accusers. Authorities charged Weinstein with rape of one woman and forcing Lucia Evans to give him a blowjob in May.
A letter to the prosecutors from the district attorney showed “that a friend of Ms. Evans had informed them in August that Ms. Evans had given her a different account of the incident.” The friend claimed that Evans told her that “she willingly performed oral sex on Mr. Weinstein in exchange for the promise of an ‘acting job.'”
An email from Evans to her fiance in 2015 also showed “a version of the encounter that is at odds with the version she told law enforcement.”
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