A carefree Harvey Weinstein was pictured waving to the crowd as he strolled into court on Thursday in Manhattan.
Weinstein had reason to smile as soon after he was seated his lawyers managed to score a major win for the case when a judge agreed to dismiss a charge of criminal sex act against the disgraced mogul that was related to a 2004 allegation.
Lucia Evans claimed she had been forced to perform oral sex on Weinstein while attending a meeting at his office in New York.
That claim fell apart however after a friend of Evans who was with her night that she met Weinstein told a detective that her friend had willingly performed a sex act on Weinstein in exchange for a film role.
That detective then encouraged the witness to keep quiet and, in the presence of her lawyer, informed her that ‘less is more.’
He also did not report the information, and is now being investigated for these actions.
Evans, who was a college student at the time, claims that she never described the assault to the witness.
Weinstein had been facing up to 25 years in prison for that charge of criminal sex act, and this could have far greater repercussions at trial, as the defense could use the dismissal of this charge to cast doubt on the district attorney’s case.
There was not however any conflicting information about a log maintained by Evans as had been reported by multiple outlets prior to the proceedings on Thursday.
The witness also revealed that on the night she and Evans met Weinstein the mogul offered them money to expose their breasts.
They did not do this at the time, but she said that Evans later told her she exposed her breasts to Weinstein in a hallway.
Evans later disputed this claim.
Weinstein’s attorney moved to have the charge thrown out almost as soon as the judge was seated on Thursday.
Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi told the court that the prosecution would not object to the dismissal, noting that the defendant is still facing five additional charges.
‘Upon defendant’s request, Judge Burke today lifted a protective order which previously covered the attached letter sent from ADA Joan Illuzzi to Benjamin Brafman on September 12, 2018, regarding mandatory disclosures under Criminal Procedure Law 240.20 and Brady v. Maryland,’ as spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney said on Thursday.
‘Additionally, in light of the newly-discovered and mandatorily-disclosed information contained within the letter, the Court today – upon defendant’s motion – dismissed Count Six of the indictment, concerning a forcible sexual act against a woman in 2004, while granting leave for the People to re-present Count Six to a Grand Jury.
It was then noted: ‘The dismissal of Count Six does not affect the remaining counts of the indictment.’
