A Los Angeles court, on Tuesday, rejected a motion to dismiss the sexual assault and rape charges against Harvey Weinstein, as per a Variety report.
Weinstein, who is facing 11 counts of rape and sexual assault in California, waived his rights for a speedy trial, thus extending the deadline to hold the trial until September 2022.
The 69-year-old American film producer, who was in a New York state prison serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault, was extradited to Los Angeles in June to face trial on 11 charges, involving five unnamed women.
More than 80 women have accused the producer of sexual misconduct since October 2017. Weinstein was subsequently dismissed from Miramax – the production company he had co-founded with his brother Bob Weinstein – and expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science.
Following a trial in the Manhattan Supreme Court, in February 2020, he was convicted in New York for mainly two cases: a first-degree criminal sexual act when he forcibly performed oral sex on a production assistant in 2006, and the other for committing third-degree rape in 2013. His conviction was a shot in the arm for the #MeToo movement that witnessed women across the globe coming out with allegations of sexual misconduct and assault at the workplace against powerful men.
While serving his jail term in New York, Weinstein was charged with several cases in California for crimes in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills from 2004 to 2013. He was formally indicted on April 11, 2021.
Following his indictment, on August 12, the Los Angeles court dismissed one of the West Coast charges against Weinstein. But, on August 20, District Attorney George Gascón’s office came back with a new grand jury who revived the dismissed sexual assault charge.
In September, Weinstein had pleaded not guilty once again to 11 charges of sexual assault and rape in a Los Angeles Court and also filed a motion to dismiss the entire case.
At the hearing on Tuesday, Weinstein’s lawyer argued for the Los Angeles case to be dismissed on the grounds that the prosecution had improperly relied on a “rape trauma syndrome” expert’s testimony during grand jury proceedings. Weinstein’s attorney argued that psychologist Mindy Mechanic should not have been allowed to testify to contradict “rape myths” which the defence did not raise.
However, refusing to dismiss the charges, the judge said, “I think there was not a manipulation of the grand jury in this case. I don’t think the testimony of Dr Mechanic was inappropriate. Certain rape myths are common knowledge and are permitted to be rebutted.”
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Meanwhile, a California court dismissed a lawsuit filed against Weinstein by American actor Rose McGowan as she failed to file paperwork within the allotted deadline. On November 23, McGowan had fired her lawyer Julie Porter. The court had then said McGowan could represent herself and had given her till December 3 to file her brief. When she failed to do so, her lawsuit was dismissed.
McGowan was one of the first to publicly speak out against the producer in 2017. She accused him of raping her in 1997 when they were at the Sundance Film Festival. In October 2019, McGowan also alleged that Weinstein had attempted to silence her and prevent her from publishing her memoir Brave.