Harvey Weinstein LA case: Judge rejects assault count, again

On Thursday, a Los Angeles judge again rejected one of 11 sexual assault counts in an indictment of Harvey Weinstein, reports said.

Two weeks ago, Judge Lisa B. Lench dismissed the count of sexual battery by restraint as ‘too old’ and outside the statute of limitations, but had allowed the district attorney’s office to amend the allegation against the 69-year-old former movie tycoon and convicted rapist.

But on Thursday, the judge found that neither of the two attempts at an amended complaint from prosecutors solved the problem, and so she rejected the count again.

However, the judge gave the prosecutors something to work with on the dismissed count situation, saying that if they reconvene the grand jury and get it to return a new indictment for it, she may accept it. But no specific instruction—as to how the approach should be—was offered by her.

The rejected count dates back to May of 2010. And Harvey Weinstein was first charged with it in January 2020, before the statute of limitations had expired. Prosecutors then got an indictment from a grand jury on an identical count six months later, when the time had lapsed.

“The people are grasping to try to save something that is unsalvageable. “They did it, they blew it, they can’t fix it,” Weinstein attorney Alan Jackson said in court.

The judge also agreed with that the grand jury indictment was a new prosecution, and therefore was coming too late.
However, the prosecutors argued that it was a continuation of the same case.

The counts maybe a small part of the case, as reports call it, but dismissing the same removes one of five accusers from Weinstein’s forthcoming trial.

“Today’s a great example of why we need judges with a backbone… and juries with a tough spine to stand up against false accusations,” Weinstei’s attorney Mark Werksman reportedly said outside court.

In a statement sent to an entertainment portal, Weinstein’s representative said, “We are pleased that the judge agreed that one of the charges alleged was barred by the statute of limitations. It remains dismissed and, given the statute and the fact that Harvey maintains his innocence of the charges, it never should have been brought in the first place. We consider this a partial victory, but know there is quite the road ahead. Harvey remains optimistic and hopeful, and must focus on his health right now.”

Still intact are four counts of rape and six other sexual assault counts. Weinstein pleaded not guilty to all of them last month in his first court appearance in the California case. He was extradited from New York, where he is serving a 23-year sentence for convictions of rape and sexual assault.

Weinstein’s attorneys will seek to reject many of them, and more technical fights are likely to come as they attempt to erode the case against him.