Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein, who faces rape charges in court from three separate women, is reportedly hoping to dismiss the criminal case against him.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Weinstein — who, following detailed exposes in the New York Times and The New Yorker this fall, has been accused of inappropriate and/or criminal behaviour by dozens of women — is seeking to dismiss one rape case on the basis on emails from his accuser. In a new brief, Weinstein's lawyer Benjamin Braff argues that the case should be dismissed because the District Attorney withheld the emails, which Braff suggests paint a different picture of Weinstein's relationship with the accuser, from the grand jury.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Per THR, the emails reportedly include messages in which the accuser jokes that she is a "booty call" to Weinstein. Braff argues that this implies that a sexual relationship between the two was, in fact, consensual.
"[The emails] signalled her desire for a fuller and more emotionally committed relationship," Brafman writes in the brief.
In other messages discussed within the brief, the unnamed woman asks to meet up with the producer for a drink.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the emails are governed by a protective order that makes them confidential. Weinstein's team hopes to revise that protective order.
The emails are not the only reason Weinstein wishes to dismiss the case against him. According to THR, Weinstein takes aim at the District Attorney's process, stating that he did not receive adequate notice that there were "new, far more serious charges" against him that would be presented to the grand jury. Weinstein also claims that the evidence in general is not sufficient enough to go to court.
Should Weinstein be convicted of predatory sexual assault, it is possible that he will receive the maximum sentence, which is life in prison.
Refinery29 has reached out to Weinstein's attorney Braff for comment.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT