The Crown Prosecution Service has dropped indecent assault charges against US film mogul Harvey Weinstein, ruling there was “no realistic prospect of conviction”.
The 72-year-old producer was charged in June 2022 with two counts of indecently assaulting a woman in London in August 1996.
Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS’s counter-terrorism and special crime division, said: “After reviewing the evidence in this case, the CPS has decided to discontinue the criminal prosecution of Harvey Weinstein.”
This comes after the New York Court of Appeals threw out his 2020 rape conviction on April 25 after ruling that he did not receive a fair trial, effectively erasing his 23-year prison sentence and ordering a new trial.
But he remains in prison after being convicted of the rape and sexual assault of Italian actress and model Evgeniya Chernyshova in Los Angeles and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
The Criminal Prosecution Service has dropped indecent assault charges against US film mogul Harvey Weinstein, ruling there was “no realistic prospect of conviction”.
In June 2022, Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division, confirmed that Scotland Yard had been authorised to charge the former film producer.
The charges related to a female complainant in August 1996 in London, and the decision was made after the Crown Prosecution Service reviewed evidence gathered by the Met.
A Scotland Yard statement at the time of the arrest said two offences had been committed between 31 July and 31 August 1996.
The alleged victim, a woman, is now in her 50s.
But now the prosecution has decided to suspend the criminal proceedings against Weinstein.
Mr Ferguson said: ‘The Prosecution Service has a duty to keep all cases under continuous review and we have decided there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.
‘We have explained our decision to all parties.
“We always encourage any potential victim of sexual assault to come forward and report to the police, and we will prosecute those who meet the legal requirements.”
Weinstein is currently awaiting a new trial on rape and sexual assault charges in Manhattan.
Prosecutors told the court that the defendant could face a new indictment as he is “actively investigating” further allegations of sexual assault against Weinstein.
“Some people who weren’t ready to speak up in 2020 now seem to be ready to speak up in 2024,” Deputy District Attorney Nicole Blumberg previously said.
“We will speak with counsel about what falls within the statute of limitations and do everything in our power to ensure that the identity of each survivor is protected.”
Weinstein is serving his prison sentence in the United States after being convicted of rape and sexual misconduct in Los Angeles in connection with a 2013 incident in which he showed up uninvited in a woman’s hotel room during a Los Angeles film festival.
He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in February 2023.
He is currently being held at New York’s Rikers Island jail complex while awaiting a new trial in Manhattan after a 2020 rape conviction was overturned earlier this year in a majority decision by the New York Court of Appeals.
The decision cited that “the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of prior uncharged sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,” which constituted “an abuse of judicial discretion.”
In July, Weinstein was treated in hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs and Covid-19.
In 2020, the producer of hit films including Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, Good Will Hunting, Gangs Of New York and Shakespeare In Love was stripped of his honorary CBE awarded for his contribution to the British film industry.
