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 The dismissed charge concerns an alleged sexual assault of an
aspiring actress by Weinstein in 2004. Five other charges,
involving alleged assaults of two other women, remain in the
case in Manhattan criminal court. Weinstein has pleaded not
guilty to all the charges.
Weinstein's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said he would seek
dismissal of the remaining charges as well. He also said that he
would investigate what he described as "perjury" before the
grand jury that indicted Weinstein, and the conduct of a New
York City police detective involved in the case.
The woman who accused Weinstein of assaulting her in 2004, Lucia
Evans, told the New Yorker in October 2017 that Weinstein forced
her to perform oral sex on him when she was a 21-year-old
college student.
"I want to be very clear that prosecutor's decision to abandon
my client's claims does not invalidate the truth of her claims,"
Carrie Goldberg, a lawyer for Evans, told reporters outside the
courthouse following Thursday's hearing.
Following the hearing, the office of Manhattan District Attorney
Cyrus Vance made public a letter it had sent to Brafman last
month disclosing that an unnamed witness had told them that she
had heard an account of the alleged assault from Evans that was
different from the one Evans originally gave to Vance's office.
Vance's office also learned that the witness had given the
account to a New York City police detective, who failed to
inform the prosecutors, according to the letter.
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Weinstein has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone
following accusations by more than 70 women, mostly young
actresses and other women employed in the movie business, of
sexual misconduct, including rape, dating back decades.
The accusations led to the #MeToo movement in which hundreds of
women publicly accuse powerful men in business, politics and
entertainment of sexual harassment and abuse.
As the accusations against Weinstein mounted, his company
Weinstein Co fired him and filed for bankruptcy, and he was
expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Through his company and Miramax, Weinstein won plaudits and
awards for movies including "Shakespeare in Love," "Pulp
Fiction" and "The King's Speech."
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Susan
Thomas)
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