Disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein’s bid to have two charges of sexual assault against a woman thrown out was rejected by a Los Angeles judge Thursday. “Pulp Fiction” producer, 69, is already serving 23 years in jail in New York.
Disgraced tycoon Harvey Weinstein was extradited last week to the California city where he once towered over the Hollywood industry. Despite the pressure, now the producer stands accused of the rape and sexual assault of a total of five women.
Judge Lisa Lench dismissed the defence’s claim that an alleged rape and oral copulation by force of a woman in a hotel room between 2004 and 2005 fell outside the statute of limitations.
Commenting on the case, the judge sustained a similar defence argument involving an allegation of sexual battery against another woman in 2010, ordering prosecutors to amend their charge for it to proceed.
After Thursday’s hearings, Mark Werksman, one of Weinstein’s attorneys, told journalists that “one-fifth of the prosecution’s case has been gutted.” Meantime, a pretrial hearing in the case is set for September 13.
Harvey Weinstein denies 11 charges
The Hollywood producer is persistently denying 11 LA charges that, if convicted, could see him jailed for an additional 140 years. Mr Weinstein has said all his sexual encounters were consensual.
The campaign against the Hollywood mogul sparkled in 2017. Since then, widespread sexual abuse and harassment allegations against Weinstein triggering the global #MeToo movement. Dozens of the actresses including Angelina Jolie and Salma Hayek have accused producer of harassment or assault.
His lawyers attempted to block the extradition to Los Angeles on medical grounds, and a judge has granted a new medical examination.
