Hiding ankle tag under baggy jeans, shamed Weinstein limps into court
ASHEN- FACED andunkempt, Harvey Weinstein appeared in a Manhattan court yesterday to enter a formal not guilty plea on rape and other sexual misconduct charges.
The disgraced film mogul’s lawyer said they were ready to ‘begin our fight’ after a grand jury charged him last week with raping a woman in a New York hotel room and forcing another to perform a sex act in his office in the city.
Weinstein, 66, had smiled for the cameras at a previous public appearance, but he appeared to be hampered by a GPS electronic tracking device he was wearing around his ankle. He walked into court with a limp and wore oddly mismatched clothes.
He uttered only a few words at his first court appearance since he was arrested on May 25.
‘Not guilty,’ he said in a quiet voice when asked for his plea to three charges – rape in the first degree, rape in the third degree and a first degree criminal sexual act. Weinstein also replied ‘Yes’ several times as the judge reiteratedthe conditions of his moni-toredrelease.
His lawyer, Ben Brafman, toldthe court his client ‘intends to vigorously fight these charges’.
He called the case against Weinstein ‘eminently defensible’ basedon what they have learned about the evidence. Mr Brafman insistedthat as bad as the crime of rape is, ‘it is equally reprehensible to be falsely accused’. He also told the judge the film maker had never met alleged victim and actress Melissa Thompson.
In a federal lawsuit, Miss Thompson claims one of Mr Brafman’s former employees, Alex Spiro, used ‘deceptive tactics’ to get a hold of her evidence against Weinstein, including film and audio.
Mr Brafman said he only became aware of her a few days ago. There are nearly a dozen lawsuits filed against Weinstein, whose alleged behaviour spawnedthe MeToo movement.
Mismatched clothes