A New York judge has on Thursday, denied Harvey Weinstein attempted push to dismiss the alleged criminal and sexually assault charges brought against him by two women.
According to reports, the accussed and famous Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein who is facing a five-count charge of rape and sexual assaults, had argued to the Judge that prosecutorial misconduct required dismissal. But the Judge excising her powers told attorneys on the case, that the case would continue.
Benjamin Brafman who is the attorney to Weinstein had earlier called the prosecution of Weinstein as something that was planned to tarnish his image, saying decision to continue the hearing of the case is politically motivated.
He had also said that the Manhattan district attorney failed to turn over exculpatory evidence that includes witnesses and communications that would show consensual relationships with the accusers.
In a written decision that followed the hearing, New York Supreme Court Justice James Burke wrote, “The People [of New York] generally enjoy wide discretion in presenting their case and are not required to present exculpatory or mitigating evidence in the Grand Jury. They are not obligated to search for evidence favorable to the defense or to present all evidence in their possession favourable to the accused. The Grand Jury is not an adversarial proceeding and the People do not have the same obligation of disclosure at the Grand Jury stage as they have at the trial stage.”
The judge rejected the contention that the grand jury proceeding was flawed and then turned his attention to whether police and prosecutors exhibited bias and pervasive bad deeds to warrant a dismissal.
Burke found that “there is no basis for the defendant’s claim of prosecutorial or law enforcement misconduct in the proceedings.” Not only will he reject the dismissal bid, but he is turning down Brafman’s call for an evidentiary hearing to examine the issue. “The defendant may explore any issues of witness credibility at a trial should such witnesses testify,” added the judge.
The next hearing is March 7.
Brafman speaking on the outcome, said:
“We are obviously disappointed by the court’s decision to deny our motion to dismiss the indictment. Judge Burke has, however, ruled and we must accept his ruling. Nothing in the court’s ruling, however, removes the flawed theory of this case that we intend to vigorously defend at trial, where we are confident that Mr. Weinstein will be completely exonerated.” He said.