Harvey Weinstein Arraigned, Pays $1,000,000 Cash For An Ankle Bracelet

I'm glad New York changed the Statute of Limitations on rape, maybe New York should push further?

A bad person. (YANN COATSALIOU/AFP/Getty Images)

Harvey Weinstein went through “rich man” arraignment this morning.

Weinstein surrendered himself yesterday, he’s been charged with rape in the first degree, rape in the third degree, and criminal sexual assault. Because he’s rich and famous, Weinstein was able to turn himself in. His lawyers were able to work out the conditions of his release before he walked into the police station. It must be nice.

The judge signed off on that deal today. Weinstein was released on $1,000,000 cash. He’s going to be fitted with an ankle bracelet. He’s only allowed to travel in New York and Connecticut — where presumably he has a house or an estate or some kind of subterranean lair. He surrendered his passport. And he signed an agreement to not fight extradition, which struck me as a little bit weird. If Weinstein jumps bail, absconds to a foreign country, and is caught, he agreed that he won’t fight the United States’ attempt to extradite him back to New York.

Which, okay. If he does a damn illegal thing and gets caught he won’t fight being, like, caught. Uhh… thanks Harv, for agreeing to not try to be Jason Bourne.

The agreement to not fight extradition does however get us into the mind of Ben Brafman, head of Weinstein’s defense team. Frankly, I’m surprised he didn’t just pull a Roman Polanski or Julian Assange. There are lots of places a wealthy white man can hang out while ignoring legal proceedings against him in the US. Weinstein’s decision to surrender shows a pretty high confidence that he can beat these charges. Weinstein has maintained that, for all of his faults, he did not engage in non-consensual sex.

This is critical because the “forcible compulsion” charges against Weinstein are the only ones New York State has against him that are not time-barred by the statute of limitations. In 2001, New York changed to an indefinite statute of limitations on rape, but not other sex crimes. Weinstein appears to have committed numerous bad acts against, well, potentially every woman he ever met on planet earth? But only the rape charges can be brought against him because of the statute.

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That makes Brafman’s tagline outside the courthouse too cute by half. Brafman, this morning, said: “My job is not to defend behavior, my job is to defend criminal behavior.” That’s technically true, of course. But Brafman’s other job is to make sure that the numerous claims against Weinstein made by women who will never receive any justice against him are never aired in a court of law. Prosecutors will try to bring all of Weinstein’s accusers into evidence against him, to establish a pattern of behavior. Brafman will argue that prior bad acts are not relevant to the rape allegations. This is where the game will be played.

Ideally, all of the women who have accused Weinstein would also be able to help bring charges against him for sexual harassment and assault. Don’t get me wrong, I’m generally a fan of statutes of limitations. People shouldn’t be allowed to lord potential claims over others for years and years after the alleged harm has occurred. Applied properly, and when we make sure that the complainant has actual notice of the harm before the statute starts running, statutes of limitations are an important part of a functioning legal system.

But what we’ve learned about sexual harassment is that there are many, legitimate reasons for victims to keep quiet about alleged harassment well beyond the operation of the statute. If Harvey Weinstein groped you in 1992, there was nothing you could do. Nobody would believe you, the police wouldn’t investigate, the prosecutors wouldn’t charge. Cy Vance, the Manhattan District Attorney who signed off on these charges against Weinstein, declined to pursue an investigation into him just a few years ago. We’ve seen that the culture of sexual harassment allows men to escape justice for their crimes.

But statutes of limitations can be changed. Again, Weinstein is only here today because New York decided to change its statutes of limitations regarding rape. A change in the statute of limitations regarding sexual harassment in New York (and other states following New York’s lead on rape) would be one positive outcome of the Weinstein era.

And, you know, convicting Weinstein of course. Weinstein is entitled to a presumption of innocence in a court of law, but not in the court of my own damn brain. After trial, I hope the closest Harvey Weinstein gets to Connecticut is on his way up to Fishkill.

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Harvey Weinstein charged with rape and other abuse charges in sexual assault cases [Washington Post]


Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.