Grand Jury Indicts Harvey Weinstein for Rape
The grand jury indicted movie producer Harvey Weinstein on rape and criminal sexual acts charges on Wednesday, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance stated.
Weinstein was arraigned last week for the same charges, months after his alleged victims came forward to tell their stories about his sexual misconduct.
The indictment was announced by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., saying that the powerful Hollywood producer had been charged with the first and third-degree rape cases and first-degree criminal sexual acts.
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According to Deadline, the critically-acclaimed producer will be facing up to 25 years behind bars if the court will find him guilty.
"This indictment brings the defendant another step closer to accountability for the crimes of violence with which he is now charged," Vance stated regarding the latest update about the case of the controversial producer. "Our office will try this case not in the press, but in the courtroom where it belongs. The defendant's recent assault on the integrity of the survivors and the legal process is predictable. We are confident that when the jury hears the evidence, it will reject these attacks out of hand," he added.
The publication also shared a copy of the two-page indictment, where the graphic descriptions of the alleged sexual crimes of the once-powerful film producer were stated.
The producer's lawyer Ben Brafman also released a statement that was reported by E! News to respond to the indictment, saying that the move did not come as a surprise. Brafman also said that he actually predicted that the indictment is about to be released. He also seemed to be less concerned about the indictment since it was only the same as the charges that were filed against his client in the criminal court complaint.
Also, Brafman revealed that Weinstein's criminal team petitioned the District Attorney to allow them to have more time in gathering the materials needed to properly prepare their client for his testimony in front of the grand jury, yet their request had been denied.
"We remind everyone that an Indictment is merely a formal accusation. Mr Weinstein intends to enter a plea of Not Guilty and vigorously defend against these unsupported allegations that he strongly denies," he also stated. "We will soon formally move to dismiss the indictment and if this case actually proceeds to trial, we expect Mr. Weinstein to be acquitted," he added.
The 66-year-old movie producer was arrested Friday after surrendering himself to the New York police. He was later on released after posting a $1 million cash bail. But CNN revealed that he was required to wear a GPS monitoring system and must stay within New York state and Connecticut. He was also required to surrender his passport.
Aside from facing charges in New York, Weinstein is also under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department which submitted three cases to the Los Angeles County District Attorney in February. He is also facing almost a dozen lawsuits filed by several women in the courts in the US as well as in London.
