Eight Cases Against Harvey Weinstein Being Reviewed by L.A. District Attorney
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Harvey Weinstein is set to go on trial next month in New York on charges of rape and sexual assault. But no matter how that case turns out, he will still face criminal jeopardy in Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is now reviewing eight cases against the disgraced producer, according to D.A. spokesman Greg Risling.
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The D.A.’s office has received four cases each from the Los Angeles Police Department and the Beverly Hills Police Department, and has yet to decide whether to file charges on any of them. Two of those cases were submitted within the last few months, and have not been previously reported.
Weinstein has adamantly denied all allegations of non-consensual sex.
Risling declined to give details of any of the charges. The office has been reviewing most of the charges for nearly two years. The Beverly Hills Police Department submitted two cases involving Weinstein in January 2018. The LAPD submitted three investigations the following month, and Beverly Hills detectives submitted their third case in June 2018. Until last week, the D.A.’s office had not provided an update on its Weinstein cases since August 2018.
One of the cases involves an Italian model who alleges that Weinstein raped her at the Mr. C Beverly Hills hotel in February 2013. The LAPD interviewed the woman in October 2017, shortly after the Weinstein scandal broke, and submitted her case to the D.A. for review.
In August of this year, the Manhattan D.A.’s office disclosed that it would call three witnesses to testify about Weinstein’s alleged “prior bad acts.” The D.A. did not identify the witnesses, but said that one of them would testify about an incident that occurred at a hotel in Beverly Hills on the night of Feb. 19, 2013. Risling declined to comment on whether the D.A.’s office is cooperating with Manhattan prosecutors on that aspect of the case. Weinstein’s trial begins on Jan. 6, and is expected to take two months.
The Los Angeles D.A.’s office set up a task force to review Hollywood sex assault cases in November 2017, but has yet to bring any charges. The office has declined to prosecute many allegations because they fell outside the statute of limitations, which is 10 years for most serious sex crimes. In one case, the office declined to prosecute actor Kevin Spacey because his accuser had died.
Weinstein is also facing civil litigation. Earlier this month, The Weinstein Company insurers agreed to terms on a $25 million “global settlement” of sexual misconduct litigation. Several accusers have opted not to participate in the settlement, including Kaja Sokola, a Polish model who alleges that Weinstein sexually assaulted her when she was 16. Sokola filed suit last week in New York, naming Weinstein, his brother Bob, Miramax and Disney as defendants.
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