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An (Obligatory) Harvey Weinstein Thread

So Harvey Weinstein is the new Most Hated Man in America. Turning that image around so that he's viewed as an old school casting couch director who only showed his junk to those who were willing to trade their bodies for camera time and film roles, and who never forced anyone to do anything is going to be a tough sell. The imagery doesn't work in his favor. He's gigantic and the accusing actresses and models probably all weighed 110 pounds or less.

What does work in his favor is the law. While the grand jury may add additional charges, as of now he's charged with forcibly making one woman engage in oral or a*nal s*x with him in 2004, and forcing another woman to have sex with him at (presumably) her hotel in March, 2013. I assume she was a company employee as Harvey Weinstein would never stay at a Doubletree in New York. (He was a Peninsula kind of guy.) [More...]

I'm confused about the third charge of having sex without consent(with no date rape drug involved) - how is that different than having sex by force?

From the Court docket: (The material in brackets was added by me]:

  • PL 130.35 01 TOP CHARGE
    B Felony, 1 count,
    Not an arrest charge, Arraignment charge
    Description Rape-1st:forcible Compulsion
  • PL 130.25 03 E Felony, 1 count,
    Not an arrest charge, Arraignment charge
    Description Rape: lack Of Consent Not Incap[acitated]
  • PL 130.50 01 B Felony, 1 count,
    Arrest charge, Arraignment charge
    Description Crim Sex Act-1st[degree]:by Force

The next court date is July 30.

As for the elements of the crime:

PL 130.35 Rape in the first degree.

A person is guilty of rape in the first degree when he or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person by (1)forcible compulsion; ....

PL 130.25 Rape in the third degree.

A person is guilty of rape in the third degree when (3) he or she engages in sexual intercourse with another person without such person`s consent where such lack of consent is by reason of some factor other than incapacity to consent.

PL 130.50 01 (Criminal Sex Act First Degree)

A person is guilty of criminal sexual act in the first degree when he or she engages in oral sexual conduct or a*nal sexual conduct with another person: (1) By forcible compulsion;

If I had to guess, I'd say the second rape charge is a lesser included offense of the first degree rape charge and pertains to the same accuser/date -- meaning Weinstein is only really charged with two separate incidents -- one with an aspiring actress in 2004 and one with a former employee.

Contrary to some news reports, Weinstein has not yet entered a plea of not guilty. He's only charged via complaint, not Indictment for now. He will enter a plea when an Indictment is returned. (NY is one of those states that indicts almost everyone. I don't know why. In Colorado the state grand jury is principally used for organized crime or very high profile cases where the DA wants to show the charging decision was a shared responsibility.)

As to the possible penalties: The law is changing in 2019, but as of now, and I didn't study this closely, a class B felony is at least five years and not more than twenty-five years; A class E felony is at least 1.5 years and not more than 4 years. It appears the judge can sentence lower in class E felonies if he or she wants to.

Now for something you might not have read: His lawyers (Ben Brafman and Alan Dershowitz, who is advising the defense team) have each filed sworn declarations in the the federal bankruptcy case of The Weinstein Company (called TWC) in Delaware in an effort to obtain hundreds of thousands of Harvey Weinstein's emails, which the company has refused to turn over. From Brafman's declaration.

16. Not only will these materials allow Mr. Weinstein and his counsel to mount a serious and compelling defense to the many scurrilous, serious allegations, in doing so it may also cause the government to conserve vast resources by closing out many of the public accusations that we may be able to demonstrate to be entirely without merit.

17. As an example, through the personal courtesy and intervention of Counsel, we were able to obtain one important email that substantially undermined the credibility of one of the principal protagonists who has publicly claimed to have been forcibly raped by Mr. Weinstein on two separate occasions. The email in question, proved that within days after the alleged first forcible rape, the woman through her agent, reached out to Mr. Weinstein, begging to be invited to a high profile industry party, as Mr. Weinstein's personal VIP guest, hardly conduct consistent with a claim of forcible rape allegedly committed by the person who the "victim" is then demanding personal and very public access to.

Therefore, the declaration continues:

18. Based on our investigation, counsel has a good-faith basis to believe that comparable emails and other correspondence was exchanged between Mr. Weinstein and many if not all of the women who now accuse him of abusive behavior. These personal email exchanges of a very friendly and often intimate character will substantially undermine claims of an abusive relationship between Mr. Weinstein and these women who now portray themselves to be his "victims".

In conclusion, it says:

20. Finally, it is imperative for Mr. Weinstein to preserve e-mails that are the subject of the various criminal and civil litigations in order to avoid being forced to assert his rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, thereby risking sanctions and an automatic adverse inference.

The bankruptcy is incredibly complicated - I spent hours and a few hundred dollars yesterday downloading a ton of pleadings from PACER (only to later learn they are available for free here). The list of unexpired contracts with actors, producers, authors, etc is literally 2,000 pages. Among the names: Jennifer Aniston and her production company; Brad Pitt and his production company; Jennifer Lawrence, and even Trayvon Martin's parents. Anyone who is willing to invest the time can read much about the women accusing him and their specific allegations.

I'm out of time, off to dinner. Let's keep this thread to Weinstein but please, no name calling of him or anyone else, no proclaiming him guilty and please use asterisks for explicit terms. Comments that include any of those will be deleted. Thanks.

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  • Display: Sort:
    Agent email (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by Alexei Schacht on Mon May 28, 2018 at 11:00:34 AM EST
    In New York, where I primarily practice law, I don't think the email is even admissible evidence unless the agent comes to court and says that the alleged victim told the agent to send that email. If the agent sent it without consulting the client it is meaningless. Also the client would have to be shown to have had knowledge that Weinstein would be there at the event to which the invite was sought. There are a lot ifs, buts and maybes before this is evidence at a trial.

    And thank you Jeralyn for doing a high profile (4.50 / 2) (#2)
    by McBain on Sun May 27, 2018 at 10:14:56 AM EST
    legal case thread :)

    I don't like the 2004 charge (none / 0) (#1)
    by McBain on Sun May 27, 2018 at 10:08:31 AM EST
    too much time has passed and I don't think it's fair to a defendant.  How do you put on a defense if potential evidence has been lost or key people forget important details?  

    I found this part of Brafman's declarations interesting... from #17...

    The email in question, proved that within days after the alleged first forcible rape, the woman through her agent, reached out to Mr. Weinstein, begging to be invited to a high profile industry party, as Mr. Weinstein's personal VIP guest, hardly conduct consistent with a claim of forcible rape allegedly committed by the person who the "victim" is then demanding personal and very public access to.

    If that email exists I wonder what impact "through her agent" will have?  I would think if it was sent by her it would be a much bigger deal but maybe people will look at it as her words?

     

    I wonder (none / 0) (#4)
    by CST on Tue May 29, 2018 at 07:48:24 AM EST
    If they'll allow other women to testify about similar experiences, like they did with Cosby.

    That question arises under (none / 0) (#5)
    by Peter G on Tue May 29, 2018 at 09:42:23 AM EST
    New York evidence law, which is case-law based and has evolved over more than two centuries, in contrast with Cosby, which implicated Pennsylvania evidence law, which is found in a relatively modern set of rules adopted by the state Supreme Court and state Legislature. A New York lawyer would have to answer what the doctrine is now in NY about "other acts" evidence in rape cases.

    Parent
    New allegations against Weinstein (none / 0) (#6)
    by McBain on Sat Jun 02, 2018 at 11:04:23 AM EST
    his attorney.
    Melissa Thompson says she was pitching Weinstein a marketing tech idea for The Weinstein Company in 2011 and alleges Weinstein raped her in his hotel room in New York, the lawsuit alleges....

    She says a mutual friend connected her with Spiro in 2017; she says she was under the impression that Brafman's firm was representing Weinstein victims after the release of the New Yorker article that first detailed allegations of sexual misconduct against Weinstein.

    She handed over audio and video evidence of harassment to Spiro and later found out that Brafman was on Weinstein's defense team, the suit says.

    Brafman and Spiro deny these allegations and maintain their client has never had non consensual sex.