Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein won a partial victory in a Los Angeles court on Thursday, persuading a judge to dismiss one of 11 sexual assault charges against him.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, during a hearing with Weinstein, 69, in the courtroom, Judge Lisa B. Lench agreed with his defense attorneys that a May 2010 count alleging abstinence sexual battery was too old, and outside the statute of limitations.
But the judge gave prosecutors an opportunity to amend the indictment and refine it. Lanch sided with the prosecution in two other cases that he refused to quash, dismissing the defense’s arguments that the events were too old.
Deputy District Attorney Paul Thompson told the court that prosecutors would amend the indictment and refine it later on Thursday. After pleading not guilty on the original indictment last week, Weinstein will have to be charged again.
Out of court, Weinstein’s lawyers cheered the ruling as a significant victory, noting that one in five accused has been dismissed from the case. “Count 5 is dead. We are off to a good start,” declared defense attorney Mark Worksman.
The above count pertains to an incident that occurred in a Beverly Hills hotel room on May 11, 2010. Prosecutors first filed a charge of abstinent sexual battery in April 2020, within a 10-year time limit under the statute.
The defense argued that when Weinstein was indicted on the same charges this year, it created a new case, with a new case count, and so the statute had expired.
Thompson argued in court that the indictment was not a new case and that it merely replaced the original complaint. He also noted that the language relating to the allegation in the two documents was similar.
Lench found that the indictment contained certain factual claims that showed why the statute had not expired, and without it, the count had to be dismissed.
Later, as promised, prosecutors amended the disputed count and retried the indictment with all 11 counts. The amendment added language saying that the counting fee was charged in April 2020, which was still within the statute of limitations.
Weinstein was brought to court wearing a surgical mask and a brown prison jumpsuit. He did not speak during the hearing, except when he agreed to the next court date, September 13.
In an email, Worksman said the defense was deciding how best to respond. “We do not believe the prosecutor can resurrect an expired statute of limitations by force of will,” he said.
No trial date has been set for Weinstein. There are likely to be more technical tussles before it starts as his lawyers are trying to quash the case against him. He has said that the allegations are all baseless, outdated and unconfirmed.
Weinstein pleaded not guilty to four counts of rape and seven other sexual assault counts last week in his first court in California case. He was extradited from New York, where he is serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault convictions.
According to Variety, they are being kept at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility. Worksman has said that his client was “cautiously optimistic” about the case.
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