Harvey Weinstein (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
It’s been an interesting windup to today’s arraignment of Harvey Weinstein.
After years of choosing not to prosecute the disgraced Hollywood mogul, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office has come forward with at least four charges against him including two counts of rape and criminal sexual act in the first degree.
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Felonies in New York State run from A to E. Level A is the highest. Rape in the First Degree as well as Criminal Sexual Act I are both B Felonies. Pretty heavy. That means Weinstein faces up to 25-years in jail plus a lifetime of registering as a sex offender if he’s convicted.
So what happens now? Weinstein’s lawyer, Ben Brafman, has been in touch with prosecutors investigating the case for some time. He brought his client in to surrender to police and to take the customary walk of shame, where the accused is paraded before the media and public as he walks from the precinct to the waiting police car in cuffs. This was a big moment for Cy Vance’s office and they wanted to gloat.
They’d been choking on this case for years. Allegations were made that Vance had deep-sixed the prosecution because Weinstein lawyer Brafman had contributed to his campaign; that crime-fiction writer Linda Fairstein, a former prosecutor in the office, interceded on Weinstein’s behalf. Reacting to the bad press, Cy Vance ultimately instituted a full-court press assigning some of his most experienced district attorneys to the case. They were tasked with looking under every rock to find something. The final straw that broke the camel’s back were recent threats by prosecutors from the Southern District of New York that they’d start their own investigation and big-foot the Vance office if nothing happened soon. And yesterday, it did.
A complaint (the first step in any criminal court prosecution) got written and at least one alleged victim (probably at least two) was vetted and found believable enough to bring a case.
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Weinstein will be arraigned today in criminal court in Manhattan, but prosecutors still need to indict him to push the case forward. This is likely already in the works. The names of the complainant(s) will likely not be revealed initially to protect their privacy.
The grand jury will, meanwhile, continue to hear evidence both from the present complainant and probably others. When Weinstein is indicted (which will likely happen soon unless his lawyer interposes some kind of plea deal), his case will be transferred to Supreme Court New York where he’ll either cut a deal or go to trial. Of course, this will all take months and even years to wrap up.
In the meantime, through his attorney, Weinstein and prosecutors have agreed that a one-million dollar bail and the surrender of his passport is sufficient to make sure he comes back to court. Should the judge agree (which he likely will) Weinstein will not be held in jail during the pendency of the case.
Whatever happens, today is a watershed moment. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office finally believes they found enough evidence to act. The system will now get its chance to work. Whether Weinstein works out a plea deal or goes to trial, in either case, fair enough. Finally rumors and innuendo will be met by proffered facts. It may ultimately wind up in a juries hands to determine if the prosecutors have presented enough evidence to win a conviction.
Toni Messina has tried over 100 cases and has been practicing criminal law and immigration since 1990. You can follow her on Twitter: @tonitamess.