



want a court to throw out sexual assault charges against him, citing reasons on Friday including friendly emails from a woman who accused him of rape.

Attorneys for Harvey Weinstein

Lawyers for Weinstein filed notice they’ll seek dismissal of the case. Among other arguments, they say the grand jury that indicted Weinstein should have been told about emails from one of his three accusers in the case.

One message, less than a month after the alleged rape in March 2013, expresses appreciation for “all you do for me,” according copies of emails included in the court filing. Another message, days later, says “it would be great to see you again.”

“Miss you big guy,” another message added a few months later.

Over the ensuing months and years, the two continued warm exchanges arranging to meet — the woman wrote she was “so happy you saw me today” and very honored!” after one get-together in October 2013 — and exchanging brief updates on their lives.

“There is no one else I would enjoy catching up with that understands me quite like you,” the woman, who has not been publicly identified, wrote in January 2014.

After saying she had a schedule conflict and couldn’t make it to a hotel to see him in February 2017, the woman explained: “I love you, always do. But I hate feeling like a booty call,” with a smiling-face symbol afterward.

Taken from about 400 communications between the two, the messages show “a long-term, consensual, intimate relationship” that prosecutors didn’t portray to the grand jury, Weinstein attorney Ben Brafman wrote in court papers.

They also take issue with other charges against Weinstein on legal grounds, such as being too vague or outside legal time limits, and argue all the charges should be dismissed.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office declined to comment.

Brafman has already sought to cast doubt on the rape allegation, saying that the accuser had a decade-long relationship with Weinstein that continued after the alleged attack. And the attorney had signaled he would look to communications from Weinstein’s accusers, saying last month he’d seen “overwhelming evidence, in the form of email traffic” in Weinstein’s favor.

Brafman also said there were witnesses who could corroborate Weinstein’s denials of the charges, which involve separate encounters with three women in Manhattan.

New York law regarding whether prosecutors must let grand jurors know about evidence that could exonerate a defendant is complicated. State appeals courts have noted that prosecutors are obliged to seek justice and not just convictions, but the courts also have said prosecutors aren’t obliged to present grand jurors with all forms of evidence that could favor a defendant.

The disgraced movie mogul was indicted in May and again last month on charges he allegedly assaulted three women. He has pleaded not guilty.

Weinstein is free on $1 million bail.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)</s>Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers want a New York court to throw out sexual assault charges against him.

Lawyers for the former movie titan-turned-#MeToo villain filed notice Friday they will seek dismissal of the case. Among other arguments, they say the grand jury that indicted Weinstein should have been told about emails from one of his three accusers: a woman who said he raped her in 2013.

One message, less than a month after the alleged attack, expresses appreciation for “all you do for me.” Another, days later, says “it would be great to see you again.”

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to the rape charge and to charges involving two other women in Manhattan.</s>Harvey Weinstein asked a New York City judge on Friday to throw out the two indictments returned against him in the last few months, arguing the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office failed to meet its technical burden in filing a series of sex crimes charges against the disgraced film producer.

A new court document cites 40 emails that Weinstein’s defense said prove the woman he allegedly raped was no victim but a consensual sexual partner. The defense accused prosecutors of failing to present those emails to the grand jury.

“Among the numerous grounds supporting dismissal, the motions reveal the existence of exculpatory evidence known to the prosecution but intentionally kept from the grand jurors, communications which corroborate Mr. Weinstein’s factual innocence in this case,” defense attorney Ben Brafman said in a statement provided to ABC News. “These communications irrefutably reflect the true nature of this consensual intimate friendship, which never at any time included a forcible rape.”

Weinstein is charged with six counts including predatory sexual assault, criminal sex act and rape that stem from alleged encounters with three different women. He has pleaded not guilty and denied non-consensual sex with any person.

The unnamed woman who accused Weinstein of raping her on March 18, 2013, in a Manhattan hotel “sent extensive warm, complimentary and solicitous messages to Mr. Weinstein immediately following the now claimed event and over the next four-year period,” Brafman said.

Weinstein obtained the emails from The Weinstein Company, the studio he co-founded, as part of a federal bankruptcy court proceeding. The judge granted him access to the emails for use in his criminal defense as long as he omitted names and initials.

The defense quoted from messages Weinstein said he received from the woman who accused him of rape in the weeks and months after the alleged attack.

“[I] hope to see you sooner than[] later...” according to a message from April 11, 2013. “I appreciate all you do for me, it shows” said another message the following day.

Little more than a month after the alleged rape Weinstein said he received an email from the accuser that said “It would be great to see you again, and catch up! It would mean a lot if we could catch up over a drink then.”

The emails “would appear to contradict that [the woman] ever believed she had been forcibly raped,” the defense motion said.</s>Lawyers for Harvey Weinstein have filed a motion to have the criminal case against him dismissed, claiming prosecutors failed to show exculpatory evidence to the grand jury.

Lawyers for Harvey Weinstein have filed a motion to have the criminal case against him dismissed, claiming prosecutors failed to show exculpatory evidence to the grand jury.

The disgraced producer is charged with six sexual assault counts relating to three different women, including predatory sexual assault, criminal sexual act in the first degree, and rape in the first and third degrees.

Predatory sexual assault carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Weinstein has already pleaded not guilty to the charges involving two of the women.

In court papers filed in New York on Friday, his lawyers said: “Based on published reports, the District Attorney’s Office conducted its investigation amidst overwhelming pressure from the media, politicians and high-ranking police officials demanding the arrest of Mr Weinstein.”

The motion says: “Mr Weinstein categorically denies that he had non-consensual sex with any person, and specifically the three accusers in the pending indictment.”

It adds the case “must be dismissed at the pretrial stage because it is legally infirm based on the District Attorney’s failure to provide exculpatory email evidence to the Grand Jury; failure to give adequate notice to the defence as requested that it was presenting new, far more serious charges to the Grand Jury; failure to indicate with sufficient specificity when the alleged crime in Count Six occurred; failure to prosecute Count Five within the five-year Statute of Limitations; and failure to provide the Grand Jury with sufficient evidence of the legally required element of force, as well as other Grand Jury deficiencies.

The motion includes dozens of emails submitted in evidence between Weinstein and one of his accusers, that his lawyers claim show an intimate relationship between them.

The communications took place after the date she alleges he raped her.

Ben Brafman, Weinstein’s laywer, said in a statement: “The motions filed today reflect the first opportunity for Mr Weinstein to present legal arguments as to why the indictment filed against him should be dismissed.

“Among the numerous grounds supporting dismissal, the motions reveal the existence of exculpatory evidence known to the prosecution but intentionally kept from the grand jurors, communications which corroborate Mr Weinstein’s factual innocence in this case.

“Attached to the motions are dozens of emails written by the anonymous accuser, who sent extensive warm, complimentary and solicitous messages to Mr Weinstein immediately following the now claimed event and over the next four-year period.

“These communications irrefutably reflect the true nature of this consensual intimate friendship, which never at any time included a forcible rape.”

A spokeswoman for the New York District Attorney declined to comment.

Weinstein is next due to appear in court on September 20.</s>Harvey Weinstein’s attorneys have been granted an emergency hearing Thursday in Delaware bankruptcy court, as they seek permission to publish “exculpatory” emails from one of his accusers in his criminal case.

Weinstein faces six sex crimes charges in New York, involving three accusers. Weinstein’s criminal attorneys are expected to file a motion in New York Supreme Court to dismiss the indictment on Friday. On Wednesday, his attorneys in the Weinstein Co. bankruptcy case asked the court’s permission to include emails from one of the accusers in the publicly filed dismissal motion.

“It is Mr. Weinstein’s belief that these e-mails are material and exculpatory and the failure of the district attorney to provide this evidence to the grand jury warrants a dismissal of

 the indictment,” Weinstein’s attorneys wrote.

Weinstein was granted access to his work emails through the bankruptcy court in May. He had been seeking them since October, shortly after his ouster from the company, arguing that they would help him defend himself from sexual misconduct allegations, both in civil and criminal court.

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Weinstein has previously issued press statements with photographs of himself smiling with Rose McGowan and Uma Thurman at gala events, implicitly arguing that they undermine the actresses’ accusations against him.

Weinstein’s attorneys now want to publish some of the emails — they say less than 40 — while redacting information that would identify the accuser. None of the three accusers has been formally identified in court.

The attorneys intend to argue that the D.A.’s office should have shared the substance of the emails with the grand jury. The defense is expected to offer other reasons in support of its dismissal motion as well.

The attorneys have sought permission from the Weinstein Co. estate and from the committee of unsecured creditors, which represents some of Weinstein’s accusers in civil court, to publish the emails in question. The committee has been unwilling to grant permission without a hearing on the matter. The hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern.</s>Harvey Weinstein’s attorneys are preparing a motion to have his case dismissed. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie producer’s legal team is planning to submit a motion for dismissal on the grounds that prosecutors didn’t share allegedly exculpatory emails with the grand jury that returned an indictment. In New York, where Weinstein is currently facing charges of sexually assaulting three women, in some cases prosecutors must share such evidence with a grand jury.

His attorneys first floated the defense Wednesday in Delaware bankruptcy court, where The Weinstein Company filed for bankruptcy in March. The bankruptcy court judge let Weinstein have access to his company emails and personnel files; now, his attorneys say, they have uncovered emails relevant to his sexual-assault case. “The emails are to be attached as exhibits to pre-trial motions — which must be filed in the Supreme Court of New York County no later than August 3, 2018 — seeking a dismissal of the indictment for, among other reasons, the failure of the prosecutor to advise the grand jury of the substance of exculpatory communications made by the one of three complaining witnesses underlying the counts of the indictment and contained in the e-mails sought for use here,” Weinstein’s latest bankruptcy court filing reads. The emails are currently confidential under a protective order.

Harvey Weinstein has pleaded not guilty on all counts, and continues to deny any allegations of sexual assault. He’s next scheduled to appear in court on September 20.</s>His attorneys are submitting a cache of several dozen emails, which they insist should disqualify at least one rape charge.

According to a new court filing, Harvey Weinstein and his attorneys plan to ask a Manhattan judge to dismiss many of the serious sexual assault charges that have been filed against the movie mogul, reports ABC News. Ben Brafman who is serving as Weinstein’s criminal attorney, is looking at a Friday deadline to file the pre-trial motion in New York, which will seek dismissal of the rape charge from at least one unnamed accuser. According to Weistein and his attorneys, they will be arguing that the first degree rape charge is invalid due to Weistain and the unnamed female having an ongoing relationship after the alleged attack.

In an effort to prove that the relationship was in fact consensual, Weinstein’s lawyers plan to submit a cache of several dozen emails to the Manhattan judge; these emails are claimed to contain conversations between Weinstein and the accuser.

When asked by reporters to comment, ABC News states that District Attorney Vance declined to speak on the matter.

Records indicate that defense attorneys intend on urging the Manhattan criminal court judge to dismiss the top charge against Weinstein under the basis of ill followed court rules. They will argue that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. did not follow rules which stated prosecutors are required to bring potentially exculpatory information to the grand jury before an indictment is voted on, and are claiming this was not done with the alleged emails, which they now wish to submit.

Attorneys say that these emails between Weinstein and the unnamed woman were sent and received via Weinstein’s official company email account. After Weinstein was fired, his attorneys allegedly discovered these emails. They were unable to use them at the time due to a bankruptcy judge overseeing the dissolution of The Weinstein Company, who issued a protective order. The protective order banned Weinstein’s attorneys from disseminating the emails.

Weinstein, who currently faces sexual assault charges from three different women, was indicted in May and July by a Manhattan grand jury. The charges Weinstein is facing include one count of first degree rape and one count of third degree rape. Both of these rape charges are connected to one claimed encounter which allegedly occurred on March 18, 2013, at a hotel on the East Side of Manhattan. The additional sexual assault charges that Weinstein faces were not addressed in the recent court filing.</s>Harvey Weinstein's lawyers want a New York court to throw out sexual assault charges against him. Lawyers for the former movie titan filed notice Friday they'll seek dismissal of the case. Among other arguments, they say the grand jury that indicted Weinstein should have been told about emails from one of his three accusers: a woman who said he raped her in 2013.

One message, less than a month after the alleged attack, expresses appreciation for "all you do for me." Another, days later, says "it would be great to see you again."

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to the rape charge and to sex charges involving two other women in Manhattan. He is free on $1 million bail.

Last month, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said the 66-year-old Weinstein is charged with "some of the most serious sexual offenses" that exist under state law. Vance said the case is the result of a monthslong ongoing investigation led by his office along with the NYPD. 



 More than 75 women have accused Weinstein, who was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, of wrongdoing as allegations detailed in Pulitzer Prize-winning stories last October in The New York Times and The New Yorker magazine swelled into the #MeToo movement.

Several actresses and models have accused Weinstein of criminal sexual assaults. They include film actress Rose McGowan, who said Weinstein raped her in 1997 in Utah; Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra, who said he raped her in her New York apartment in 1992; and the Norwegian actress Natassia Malthe, who said he attacked her in a London hotel room in 2008.

Weinstein, who produced movies including Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love, has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex, with his attorney challenging the credibility of his accusers.

This article was originally published by CBS News on Aug. 3, 2018 at 12:22 p.m. ET.

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Harvey Weinstein Pleads Not Guilty to New Sex Crime Charges</s>Harvey Weinstein is seeking the dismissal of sexual assault charges against him, according to court documents obtained by CNN.

Attorneys for the disgraced film mogul filed a motion for dismissal in New York federal court Friday, citing, among other things, the discovery of evidence that the grand jury was not shown — specifically “dozens of emails” sent from one of Weinstein’s anonymous accusers, characterized as “extensive warm, complimentary and solicitous messages to Mr. Weinstein immediately following the now claimed event and over the next four year period.”

“These communications irrefutably reflect the true nature of this consensual intimate friendship, which never at any time included a forcible rape,” Weinstein’s attorney, Ben Brafman told CNN in a statement.

The emails and text messages — allegedly sent and received through Weinstein’s official company account and phone — were obtained by his legal team earlier this year after a bankruptcy judge in Delaware granted access to them for his criminal defense.

In an email sent from one of Weinstein’s accusers on January 5, 2014, ten months after the alleged rape in March 2013, she writes, “Your (sic) the one who makes it look good with your smile and beautiful eyes!! But thank you that makes me so happy to hear.”

In another email from the same unnamed accuser to Weinstein on July 10, 2014 she writes, “There is no one else I would enjoy catching up with that understands me quite like you. I don’t get off work usually till after 7 and coming from (redacted). I know I will be hungry, what is your timing? Do you have time for dinner?”

The same unnamed accuser sent an email to Weinstein on July 26, 2014, writing, “I’m at work. Just had u cross my mind and thought u would send a hello. I am well.”

“Love to cross your mind it’s my favorite exercise,” Weinstein responds, according to the filings.

When contacted by CNN, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Friday’s motion for dismissal.

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to six felony sex crimes — two counts of predatory sexual assault, two counts of rape, one first-degree criminal sex act charge and one criminal sex act.

The charges stem from allegations from three women, according to court documents.

Related: Havey Weinstein pleads not guilty to rape charges in court.

Weinstein has denied all allegations of “nonconsensual sexual activity,” and he’s remained free after posting $1 million cash bail.

“Under the circumstances, he’s holding up reasonably well. No one can be happy to be in the position that he is in,” Brafman said in June outside of the courthouse.

“As terrible a crime as rape is, it is equally reprehensible to be falsely accused of rape, and since Mr. Weinstein has denied these allegations, that’s where we are.”

The charges against Weinstein came nine months after The New Yorker and The New York Times published accounts from several women accusing him of various forms of sexual misconduct.</s>Harvey Weinstein filed a motion to dismiss the criminal charges against him on Friday that contains a number of emails sent by one of his accusers between 2013 and 2017.

That woman, whose alleged rape by Weinstein in 2013 resulted in charges of Rape in the First Degree, Rape in the Third Degree and Predatory Sexual Assault, wrote in the emails that Weinstein 'is the bar' for the movie industry and comments on his 'smile and beautiful eyes.

In one email, sent in 2014, the woman wrote: 'There is no one else I would enjoy catching up with that understands me quite like you.'

Two weeks later, the woman wrote to accept Weinstein's invitation to bring her mother along for a drink, saying: 'She would love to meet you, plus you can see how good my genes are.'

The final email, from 2017, is less effusive than the others submitted by Weinstein, reading: 'I love you, always do. But hate feeling like a booty call.'

Weinstein's attorney Ben Brafman commented on the filing in a statement on Friday.

'The motions filed today reflect the first opportunity for Mr. Weinstein to present legal arguments as to why the indictment filed against him should be dismissed,' said Brafman.

'Among the numerous grounds supporting dismissal, the motions reveal the existence of exculpatory evidence known to the prosecution but intentionally kept from the grand jurors, communications which corroborate Mr. Weinstein’s factual innocence in this case.'

He continued: 'Attached to the motions are dozens of emails written by the anonymous accuser, who sent extensive warm, complimentary and solicitous messages to Mr. Weinstein immediately following the now claimed event and over the next four year period.

'These communications irrefutably reflect the true nature of this consensual intimate friendship, which never at any time included a forcible rape.'

One month after she was allegedly raped by Weinstein in a midtown hotel, the woman closed out a brief message by writing: 'Thanks, and I hope to see you sooner thank [sic] later ...'

The next day she said: 'I appreciate all you do for me, it shows.'

Three days after that she expressed a desire to see Weinstein and 'catch up,' a desire she again reiterated a few days later in an emails submitted as evidence in the motion.

A September email in which the woman is incredibly complimentary to Weinstein read: 'You have mastered storytelling and continually Are outdoing yourself and the competition. You are the bar.'

She then signed off with: 'Miss you big guy.'

One month prior she had requested a private audience with Weinstein, saying: 'I was hoping for some time privately with you to share the direction I am going in life and catch up because its been awhile.'

Brafman filed an emergency request for a hearing on Wednesday, asking that the judge who is overseeing The Weinstein Company's bankruptcy case in Delaware allow for the release of 40 emails that were sent to his client by one of the three women who he has been criminally charged with assaulting.

That hearing was granted, and on Thursday afternoon the judge ruled that Weinstein can have the emails, which he previously could not access because they were sent through his work account.

Weinstein's reasons for wanting to file these emails as evidence in the case was outlined in Brafman's request for a hearing and then again on Thursday.

'They are endearing, intimate, pleasant, flattering, friendly emails between her and Mr. Weinstein,' Brafman told Judge Mary Walrath on Thursday.

'If the grand jury had these emails, they would not have indicted.'

Brafman had previously suggested that he would defend his client by showing in court that he and one of his alleged victims had been in a long-term relationship.

Weinstein was indicted by a grand jury in June after declining to testify on his own behalf.

Brafman complained at the time that Weinstein had been 'unfairly denied access to critical information about this case that was needed to defend him before the Grand Jury.'

Brafman cited the fact that he and Weinstein did not know who the accusers were in this case as part of the issue, saying they only learned who the charges were linked to on the day of Weinstein's arrest.

This despite the fact that both women shared their stories with The New Yorker.

That is when Brafman told reporters after a court meeting that the woman who alleges she was raped by Weinstein multiple times during a 2013 incident in a midtown hotel was having a decade-long affair with the producer.

'This is an extraordinary case in my judgement where the only rape victim that Mr. Weinstein is accused of raping is someone with whom he has had a 10-year consensual sexual relationship - both before and after the alleged incident,' stated Brafman.

He also called the woman's allegations 'absurd.'

Brafman also said he had concerns about his client being able to get a fair trial.

'The ability for people to keep an open mind is of concern to me,' remarked Brafman.

'Demanding an indictment or prosecution is inappropriate pressure. It is unprecedented. It troubles me and I want to make those matters known to the court.'

He then noted: 'I'm not certain that there's any remedy but I wanted to make clear I was unhappy with those issues.'

Weinstein is facing six charges in total, with three new charges added last month: Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree for a forcible sexual act against a woman in 2006 as well as two counts of Predatory Sexual Assault.

Predatory Sexual Assault carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life behind bars.

Weinstein has been charged with Predatory Sexual Assault for for allegedly committing the crimes of Rape, Criminal Sexual Act and Aggravated Sexual Abuse in the first degree on two occasions in New York.

'A Manhattan Grand Jury has now indicted Harvey Weinstein on some of the most serious sexual offenses that exist under New York’s Penal Law,' said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance at the time.

'This indictment is the result of the extraordinary courage exhibited by the survivors who have come forward. Our investigation continues. If you are a survivor of the predatory abuse with which Mr. Weinstein is charged, there is still time to pursue justice. Please call us at 212-335-9373.'

Those new charges were added to the three charges the disgraced executive was already facing: Rape in the First and Third Degree and Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree.

Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual assault by over 20 women, was arraigned on those initial three charges back in June. He entered a plea of not guilty.
Attorneys for Harvey Weinstein seek to throw out sexual assault charges against him.