Weinstein lawyers try to get sex assault case tossed

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Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers asked Monday for a chance to question in court the former lead detective in his sexual assault case and the head of New York City’s special victims division, arguing the case has been “irreparably tainted” by police misconduct and should be thrown out.

The former Hollywood producer's lawyers singled out Detective Nicholas DiGaudio — whose alleged witness coaching led prosecutors to abandon part of the case last month — as they renewed their push to have five remaining counts dismissed.

The lawyers decried DiGaudio in court papers as “a serial obstructor” who was “singularly hell-bent on concealing the truth” and proposed an evidentiary hearing be held to “determine the extent of misconduct.”

They asked that special victims chief Michael Osgood also be called to testify because he has said he and DiGaudio interviewed all potential witnesses together.

The Manhattan district attorney's office declined to comment.

The New York Police Department reiterated its statement that “the evidence against Mr. Weinstein is compelling and strong” and that it will continue to work with prosecutions “to deliver justice for the courageous survivors who have bravely come forward.”

Harvey Weinstein sits during his hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, the US, October 11, 2018. /VCG Photo

The union representing DiGaudio, the Detectives' Endowment Association, did not immediately respond. It has previously said DiGaudio “was simply trying to get to the truth” and wasn't trying to influence the investigation.

Three of the five remaining criminal charges against Weinstein stem from allegations he raped a woman in a hotel room in March 2013. They are also tainted by allegations DiGaudio behaved improperly. The two other charges allege Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006 at his Manhattan apartment.

Prosecutors dropped a sixth charge, alleging Weinstein forced Lucia Evans to perform oral sex in 2004 when she was a college student and fledgling actress, last month after evidence surfaced that DiGaudio told her friend to keep quiet when she raised doubts about the veracity of the allegations.

Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said in a letter to Weinstein lawyer Benjamin Brafman that was unsealed on October 11 that DiGaudio had advised the witness that “less is more.”

Days later, Illuzzi-Orbon disclosed an allegation that DiGaudio urged Weinstein's 2013 rape accuser to delete the material from her cellphones before handing them over to prosecutors. She said that the material didn't pertain to Weinstein and that the woman wound up not deleting anything.

(Top image: Harvey Weinstein, former co-chairman of the Weinstein Co., arrives at state supreme court in New York, the US, on October 11, 2018. Weinstein's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, has said in court filings that prosecutors withheld evidence that would have made the grand jury think twice about charging him, such as friendly emails one accuser sent after the alleged rape. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AP