The trial of disgraced Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein will kick off on 30 July. He was charged with rape and a sex crime in New York on Friday, pos
The trial of disgraced Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein will kick off on 30 July. He was charged with rape and a sex crime in New York on Friday, posting a $1 million cash bail nearly eight months after his career imploded under bombshell accusations that triggered the #MeToo movement. The former mogul who was once the toast of Hollywood and whose films won scores of Oscars, surrendered alongside with his passport and was fitted with a GPS monitoring device. The New York police to whom the 66 year old surrendered to, said he was arrested, processed and charged with rape, criminal sex act, sex abuse and sexual misconduct.
Out on bail, Harvey Weinstein’s travel will be restricted to New York and the neighboring state of Connecticut, and he agreed to surrender his passport. The case has been adjourned until July 30.n The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said he was charged with rape in the first and third degrees, stemming from an attack on a woman in 2013, and a criminal sex act against another woman in 2004. Neither victim was named. They are the first criminal charges against the twice-married, shamed former titan, who already faces a slew of civil lawsuits. Not only is he still under federal investigation, his former studio has filed for bankruptcy.
His defense attorney, Ben Brafman told reporters that Weinstein would plead not guilty and that his client denied any non-consensual sexual activity.
“We intend to move very quickly to dismiss these charges,” Brafman said. “Bad behavior is not on trial,” he added. “Mr Weinstein did not invent the casting couch in Hollywood.”
The district attorney and police have been investigating Weinstein for months, under growing pressure from Hollywood actresses to bring the disgraced producer to justice. Lucia Evans, who said Weinstein forced her into oral sex in 2004, is thought to be one of the women whose cases triggered charges. New York police previously confirmed another credible rape allegation after “Boardwalk Empire” actress Paz de la Huerta accused the former producer of raping her twice at her New York apartment in late 2010.
Weinstein’s career went down in flames in October over sexual assault allegations following explosive articles in The New York Times and New Yorker, which sparked a sexual harassment watershed across the United States. Nearly 100 women have since accused Weinstein of crimes ranging from sexual harassment to assault and rape going back 40 years. Salma Hayek, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie are among more than two dozen actresses who say they were sexually harassed by the producer. A few, including Asia Argento and Rose McGowan, said they were raped.
