Weinstein inquiry: police departments likely to join forces, experts say

Weinstein inquiry: police departments likely to join forces, experts say

Authorities in New York, London and Los Angeles are pursuing criminal cases against film producer facing a flood of sexual misconduct accusations
Joanna Walters in New York
25 November 2017

Detectives in several cities investigating Harvey Weinstein for sex crimes are likely to be collaborating as they build evidence and assess whether the film producer can be arrested and charged, experts believe.

Investigators in New York, London and Los Angeles have opened criminal cases against Weinstein in the last six weeks, as the disgraced producer faces lawsuits on both sides of the Atlantic following a flood of accusations of sexual misconduct.
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Los Angeles police department (LAPD) detectives have interviewed witnesses in preparation for presenting a case to the district attorney’s office. The DA will then decide whether to press criminal charges over accusations that Weinstein raped an unnamed actress in a hotel in Beverly Hills in 2013, according to David Ring, a lawyer for the alleged victim.

Beverly Hills police were also investigating “multiple complaints involving Harvey Weinstein”, the LAPD said.

Ring said: “The LAPD is actively investigating [the alleged victim’s] case. It’s my understanding that they are also coordinating their efforts with other jurisdictions, like New York City.”

The New York police department (NYPD) is investigating rape complaints by two accusers who came forward publicly, Paz de la Huerta and Lucia Evans.

Detectives had previously looked into Weinstein’s conduct but the office of the New York DA, Cyrus Vance, controversially decided there was not enough evidence to charge him at the time.

In that case, in 2015, the Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez wore a police wire that recorded her pleading with Weinstein to stop bullying her as he coaxed and threatened her when she would not go into his hotel room. He also apologized for groping her previously, as revealed in the New Yorker.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/nov/24/harvey-weinstein-police-investigations