Weinstein pleads not guilty to rape, sex charges
Harvey Weinstein pleaded not guilty to rape and criminal sex act charges in a brief hearing Tuesday before a judge in New York and his lawyer vowed afterward to try and beat the case even before it goes to trial.
Weinstein limped from an SUV and was escorted past a big crowd of journalists before spending a few minutes answering a series of yes and no questions from the judge asking if he understood his rights.
He didn’t stop to speak with journalists or respond to shouted questions and was back in his waiting SUV in just 40 minutes.
His attorney, Ben Brafman, told reporters the case was “imminently defensible” based on what they have learned about the evidence.
“I think today is the first day of this process. We begin our fight now,” he said, adding that his defence would include trying to get prosecutors to drop the case. “If we are successful, there may not be a trial.”
A grand jury indicted Weinstein last week on charges involving two women.
One alleged victim, who has not been identified publicly, told investigators that Weinstein cornered her in a hotel room and raped her.
The other accuser, 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.
Dozens more women have accused him of sexual misconduct ranging from harassment to assault.
On Friday, a new lawsuit was filed in New York by three women, including one who says Weinstein assaulted her at a Manhattan hotel in 2011.
Melissa Thompson says that when she was meeting with Weinstein to pitch internet technology, he cornered her and “out-muscled” her as she tried to fight him off. She alleges he then held her down and raped her.
She did not report it to law enforcement authorities because she feared for her safety and career, the lawsuit said.
“She knew that Weinstein could and would destroy her if she complained about his sexual misconduct,” the lawsuit said.
Besides Thompson, two other women made new claims in the lawsuit, which seeks classaction status to represent hundreds of other women it says were victimized by Weinstein and what it described as his enablers.
Caitlin Dulany, a second plaintiff, was sexually assaulted, battered, threatened and falsely imprisoned in Weinstein’s hotel suite during the Cannes Film Festival in 1996, the lawsuit said.
Larissa Gomes, the third plaintiff, went to discuss work opportunities in film but ended up imprisoned in Weinstein’s hotel room, threatened, battered and assaulted, the lawsuit said.
The 66-year-old Weinstein has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex. Brafman has challenged the credibility of his alleged victims and says his client is confident he is going to clear his name.