USA: One sexual assault count dismissed in Harvey Weinstein's LA case

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One of the eleven sexual assault charges against disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein for sex crimes were dismissed by the judge on Thursday in Los Angeles.

Weinstein’s attorneys Mark Werksman and Alan Jackson said to be ‘very pleased’ with the court’s ruling and pointed out that “20 percent of the district attorney’s case has just been thrown out.”

The attorneys, however, expressed disagreement “with the court about counts six and seven.”

“We think that at some point either this court or a reviewing court will come to the proper conclusion that those two counts are defective as well and need to be dismissed,” they added.

Jackson also accused the prosecution of “prosecuting this case in no small part by prosecution by volume rather than by merit.”

Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence at a Buffalo prison after he was found guilty in New York City last year on two counts of sexual assault, including rape.

Weinstein was transferred to Los Angeles on July 20 at the District’s Attorney demand, where he had been charged on four counts of rape, four counts of forcible oral copulation, two counts of sexual battery by restraint and one count of sexual penetration by use of force.

He now faces ten counts and is expected to appear in court again on September 13.

SOT, Alan Jackson, Weinstein’s attorney: “We are very pleased with the court’s ruling and so far as count five is concerned, count five was sustained which means that count is dismissed. It deals specifically with Jane Doe 3 and the allegations surrounding Jane Doe 3. We are respectfully in some disagreement with the court about counts six and seven and we think that at some point either this court or a reviewing court will come to the proper conclusion that those two counts are defective as well and need to be dismissed but in so far as today is concerned we are very pleased with the courts ruling.”

SOT, Mark Werksman, Weinstein’s attorney: “Just to be clear, the eleven count indictment alleges crimes against five alleged victims. Today the judge dismissed the count that relates to one of the five victims. Twenty percent of the district attorney’s case has just been thrown out.”

SOT, Mark Werksman, Weinstein’s attorney: “Let me underscore: this is huge. One fifth of the prosecution’s case has been gutted and we believe that there is no factual legal basis which will allow the District Attorney to restore the charge that was dismissed today. That’s one of their five victims, it’s out, it’s dead, it’s gone and it will not revive.”

SOT, Mark Werksman, Weinstein’s attorney: “We respect the ruling but we also understand and believe that counts six and seven will never be sustained; they are factually illegally flawed, not only because Mr. Weinstein is not guilty and innocent of those charges but because they are barred by the statute limitations. We will raise this issue again, it will come up again and we will prevail on this issue. Count six and seven will be dismissed eventually, one way or another.”

SOT, Alan Jackson, Weinstein’s attorney: “The prosecution is prosecuting this case in no small part by prosecution by volume rather than by merit. That was shown today, there was no merit to count five, no merit to the fact that they even brought the charges in the first place. So every little bit helps obviously and as we move forward we expect that the defect in the prosecutor’s case on all the counts and all the Jane Doe’s allegations are gonna be revealed.”

#Weinstein #SexualAssault #HarveyWeinstein

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