Harvey Weinstein could be #MeToo’s biggest miscalculation.
Nearly four years after the disgraced movie mogul was found guilty of two felonies (rape and criminal sexual assault), New York’s highest court overturned that verdict.
His victims are outraged, as they should be. But it is the prosecutors and the judge in this case, no doubt swept up in a media maelstrom that declared Weinstein guilty before he entered the courtroom, who should be the objects of his wrath and contempt.
It is they – not the judges who voted in favor of the annulment – ​​who are responsible for re-victimizing these women. The culprit is the overzealous and self-righteous team of New York prosecutors, led by then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance.
Like the now-retired judge in this case, James M. Burke, who allowed the testimony of three women who had nothing to do with the Weinstein trial.
Harvey Weinstein could be MeToo’s biggest miscalculation. His victims are outraged, as he should be. But it is the prosecutors and the judge in this case who should be the objects of his wrath and contempt.
By overreaching, by trying to overcorrect for a multi-pronged, system-wide failure that allowed Weinstein to operate for years: revelations suppressed, careers threatened, bribes and confidentiality agreements executed, cover-ups at his film studio, and favors requested with a certain The New York District Attorney’s Office…well, Vance and Burke have done as much harm to women as Weinstein did.
What a farce. What an affront to the brave victims who came forward, who finally felt they could come forward, and to the two plaintiffs who testified in court in New York against Weinstein.
Condemning him was always going to be difficult. There was no greater discouragement than the 2015 accusation by an Italian model named Ambra Battilana, who told the NYPD that Weinstein had forcibly groped her during a meeting in March of that year.
The department’s Special Victims Division opened an investigation, and when Weinstein asked them to meet again, Battilana used a wire and caught Weinstein admitting to that earlier assault.
As her allegations made headlines, some outlets reported that Battilana, then 22, had accepted free tickets to a Broadway show produced by Weinstein, had attended at least one sex party hosted by disgraced Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and had once accused a 70-year-old man. old ‘sugar daddy’ of sexual assault, basically implying that Battilana was a slut and a scheming wannabe who she couldn’t believe.
The NYPD felt the opposite. They found Battilana extremely credible. “We built a rock-solid case,” Michael Osgood, a former SVD commander, said Thursday.
He never went to trial.
Weinstein reportedly contacted famed former sex crimes prosecutor Linda Fairstein, who had publicly desired a film deal with the mogul, and Fairstein then agreed to communicate on Weinstein’s behalf with Martha Bashford, who headed the prosecutor’s sex crimes office. from District.
Vance ultimately declined to press charges, claiming there was insufficient evidence. Once the case was dismissed, Battalia agreed to a settlement with Weinstein, which may have seemed logical and fair to her, but which only retroactively contributed to her being portrayed as unreliable.
That’s how untouchable Harvey Weinstein was.
It is they – not the judges who voted in favor of the annulment – who are responsible for re-victimizing these women. The culprit is the overzealous and self-righteous team of New York prosecutors led by then-DA Cyrus Vance (pictured).
Condemning him was always going to be difficult. There was no greater discouragement than the 2015 accusation by an Italian model named Ambra Battilana (pictured), who told the NYPD that Weinstein had forcibly groped her during a meeting in March of that year.
So, despite the whisper network and long-running rumors and Courtney Love’s infamous warning to young actresses: “If Harvey Weinstein invites you to a private party at the Four Seasons, don’t go,” she said on the carpet red in 2005, nothing ever happened. to Harvey.
Until 2017, when the dam finally burst: story after story of attack and assault, and in some cases rape, alleged by famous women and not, more than 80 accusers around the world, their stories remarkably similar.
It seemed that justice would finally be served.
We knew how nervous the New York prosecutors must be. They only had two plaintiffs, Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann, and both women had consensual sexual relations with Weinstein after his alleged rapes.
This was a seemingly insurmountable obstacle, especially with a jury of seven men and five women. But the prosecution also called Dr. Barbara Ziv, a rape trauma expert, who explained that there are no perfect victims and, for those who know their attacker, there is often an attempt to maintain a relationship to cope with the trauma and not be completely unleashed by him.
Getting a jury to convict him under these circumstances was no small victory.
Weinstein’s guilty verdict and lengthy prison sentence reinforced the burgeoning #MeToo movement. He illuminated the unique complications of sexual crimes, the gray areas and nuances that often harm victims.
But by allowing the testimony of other alleged victims who were not part of this case, the judge and the prosecution were only going to obtain a false and short-lived victory.
In this particular moment, with women’s reproductive rights under attack like never before, with once-convicted monsters like Bill Cosby released and other high-profile criminals unemployed but still walking, this decision – a legal claim by Weinstein that does not It has nothing to do with morality or common sense, it is a devastating blow.
Weinstein reportedly contacted famed former sex crimes prosecutor Linda Fairstein (pictured), who had publicly desired a film deal with the mogul, and Fairstein then agreed to communicate on Weinstein’s behalf with Martha Bashford, who directed the district attorney’s sex crimes office. Vance ultimately declined to prosecute.
If the prospect of a free Harvey Weinstein means anything (his lawyers will appeal his conviction in Los Angeles on May 20), district attorneys on both coasts should learn from this before charging another famous and powerful man whose alleged predation and deviance sex has been in the headlines for months now: Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs, also accused of sexually assaulting men.
If victims of sex crimes everywhere, regardless of age or gender, want to get true justice, judges and prosecutors must do the deeply unglamorous job of applying the law without regard for the spotlight and elegance of a radical new cause driven by understandable rage. and emotion.
A Harvey Weinstein cannot happen again, in more ways than one.