Grand Jury Indicts Harvey Weinstein on Rape Charges
A grand jury in Manhattan voted on Wednesday to indict Tinseltown titan Harvey Weinstein, who was arrested and arraigned May 25 but who declined to testify before the grand jury, on charges of first- and third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act.
May 30, 2018 at 06:18 PM
3 minute read
Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein arrives at the First Precinct in lower Manhattan on May 25, 2018. (Photo by David Handschuh/NYLJ)
A grand jury in Manhattan voted on Wednesday to indict Tinseltown titan Harvey Weinstein, who was arrested and arraigned May 25 but who declined to testify before the grand jury, on charges of first- and third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act.
According to the indictment, the criminal sexual act pertains to a victim with whom Weinstein allegedly engaged in forcible oral conduct during a period from June to September 2004, and the rape charges relate to a second victim with whom Weinstein had forcible intercourse in 2013.
In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said the indictment brings Weinstein closer to “accountability for the crimes of violence with which he is now charged.”
“Our office will try this case not in the press, but in the courtroom where it belongs,” Vance said. “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.”
Benjamin Brafman of Benjamin A. Brafman & Associates, who represents Weinstein, said in a written statement that the indictment did not “come as a surprise,” that his client plans to plead not guilty to the charges and will “vigorously defend against these unsupported allegations that he strongly denies.”
Brafman, who also said he plans to move to dismiss the indictment, had announced prior to the unsealing of the document that Weinstein would not testify before the grand jury because Weinstein's attorneys were “unfairly denied access” to information that they would need to defend him before the grand jury and that there would be inadequate time to get Weinstein prepared.
In a statement issued to reporters, Brafman called the 14-year-old allegation against his client “unsupported” and said the rape allegations pertain to a woman with whom Weinstein had a 10-year consensual sexual relationship “that continued for years after the alleged incident in 2013.”
Following his arrest on May 25, Weinstein posted a $1 million bond, was ordered to wear a monitoring device and was ordered to turn over his passport.
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