Strike 2 in Harv case
DA: Cop coached another accuser
The Manhattan DA’s Office has already lost one of three accusers in its sex-assault case against Harvey Weinstein and on Wednesday revealed that another is in peril — over misconduct allegations against the NYPD detective who was the lead investigator.
Detective Nicholas DiGaudio told one of Weinstein’s accusers to delete information from her cellphones before turning them over to the DA’s Office, according to a letter written by lead Weinstein prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon.
The accusation marked the second time prosecutors publicly accused DiGaudio of coaching a witness to withhold evidence from prosecutors.
It also followed a controversy that erupted earlier this week over whether or not DiGaudio told Illuzzi-Orbon about damaging information against accuser Lucia Evans.
That information, which prosecutors say they obtained on their own, last week led to the dismissal of allegations that the disgraced movie mogul forced Evans to perform oral sex on him in 2004. Evans was one of three accusers whose allegations formed the basis of the prosecution.
Illuzzi-Orbon’s letter, dated Tuesday, said a woman whom Weinstein is accused of raping in 2013 — identified only as “Complainant 2” — was told that “she should delete anything she did not want anyone to see” before giving her phones to prosecutors.
“According to Complainant 2, Detective DiGaudio then added, ‘we just won’t tell Joan,’ ” Illuzzi-Orbon wrote.
The woman later handed over her phones “without any deletions,” and said “that at no time did Detective DiGaudio or anyone else influence her testimony or any evidence she provided,” Illuzzi-Orbon wrote.
“This new development even further undermines the integrity of an already deeply flawed indictment of Mr. Weinstein,” said Benjamin Brafman, Weinstein’s defense lawyer.
The head of DiGaudio’s union, Michael Palladino, blasted the revelation as “just another smear campaign against Detective DiGaudio to cover up the Manhattan DA’s own incompetence.”
In another letter made public last week, Illuzzi-Orbon alleged that DiGaudio failed to tell prosecutors that a friend of Evans had told him the accuser admitted performing the sex act on Weinstein after he offered to get her an acting job.
The friend told prosecutors DiGaudio advised her that “going forward, less is more” and that she had “no obligation to cooperate,” Illuzzi-Orbon wrote.
DiGaudio claims he told IlluzziOrbon about the woman’s allegations regarding Evans in the presence of another cop who can corroborate his version of events, law-enforcement sources have told The Post.