Weinstein lawyers: Accuser’s emails show rapport, not rape
NEW YORK — Before telling authorities that Harvey Weinstein had raped her, his accuser sent warm emails after the alleged attack welcoming plans to get together, seeking advice and telling him no one “understands me quite like you,” according to court papers his lawyers filed Friday.
The woman, who hasn’t been publicly identified, has accused the former movie titan-turned-#MeToo villain of raping her in a hotel room in March 2013.
But his lawyers, who are seeking to get the rape and other sex charges against Weinstein dismissed, argue the emails portray an intimate, consensual relationship, not the aftermath of a rape. And the attorneys say grand jurors should have heard about the exchanges before deciding to indict him this spring.
One message, less than a month after the alleged rape, expresses appreciation for “all you do for me,” according copies of emails filed in court. Another message, days later, says “it would be great to see you again.”
“Miss you big guy,” another message added in September 2013, not long after the woman had written that she “was hoping for some time privately with you to share the direction I am going in life and catch up.”
Over the ensuing months and years, the two continued seeking and arranging to meet, the emails show. “I was so happy you saw me today! Very honored,” the woman wrote after a get-together in October 2013.
At another point, they made plans for him to meet her mother. She told him about a family illness and asked his advice about a car registration problem.
“There is no one else I would enjoy catching up with that understands me quite like you,” the woman, who has not been publicly identified, wrote in January 2014.
She sent a more wistful message in February 2017, after saying she had a schedule conflict and couldn’t make it to a hotel to see Weinstein. “I love you, always do. But I hate feeling like a booty call,” she wrote, adding a smilingface symbol afterward.
The emails filed Friday are only some of the roughly 400 messages between the
two, but none of them accuse Weinstein of harming her, defense lawyer Ben Brafman wrote in court papers. He said prosecutors knew of the emails but “likely” didn’t present a full picture of the communications to the grand jury, making the process “fundamentally unfair.”
The Manhattan District
Attorney’s office declined to comment.
New York appeals courts have said prosecutors aren’t obliged to present grand jurors with all forms of evidence that could favor a defendant, but the courts also have noted that prosecutors are obliged to seek justice and not just convictions.