Manhattan DA's Office Denies Reports That Rape Case Against Harvey Weinstein Has Stalled
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The lawyer for an actress who accused Harvey Weinstein of rape said Friday that she is frustrated prosecutors have not yet brought criminal charges, as the Manhattan District Attorney's Office denies reports that the case has stalled.
"Boardwalk Empire'' actress Paz de la Huerta publicly accused the movie producer of raping her twice in 2010. She began speaking with police about the accusation in late October.
Her lawyer, Carrie Goldberg, said that by now she expected the case would at least have gone before a grand jury, which would decide whether or not to indict Weinstein.
"We are deeply concerned about the foot-dragging in convening the grand jury,'' Goldberg said in an email.
Police officials believed a grand jury would hear the evidence, but now CBS News has learned the Manhattan District Attorney's Office has informed people involved in the case that they will not be moving forward, WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported. However, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office says it is still an active investigation and that "reports of it stalling are not accurate," Silverman reported.
At the end of the day it's their call, a police official told WCBS 880.
Weinstein's attorneys have said he denies any claim of non-consensual sex, and that they would respond in any "appropriate legal forum, where necessary.'' They had no comment on Friday.
New York City authorities initially seemed poised to move quickly on the accusations. In late October, Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said investigators found de la Huerta's account believable.
"We have an actual case here," Boyce said in early November.
As recently as two days ago, Boyce said detectives were still gathering evidence.
"Phone records and things like that. Business records. All those things. Takes a while to come in," Boyce said. "There's a lot of subpoenas out, we're still talking to people in regards to that. Witnesses."
Police and prosecutors have traveled to Paris to interview de la Huerta and have spoken to other witnesses multiple times, two law enforcement officials said. The officials weren't authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Prosecutors have also met with Weinstein's lawyers, Goldberg's office said.
The prosecutor's office has investigated Weinstein before, only to eventually back off of filing a criminal charge. In 2015, police conducted a sting after an Italian model accused Weinstein of groping her, secretly recording Weinstein apologizing for this conduct.
Vance ultimately decided there wasn't enough proof and didn't bring a case. Following criticism over the decision earlier this year, prosecutors said police arranged the sting without their knowledge and there were other proof issues, but police pushed back saying they'd presented enough evidence.
Goldberg said she wonders why prosecutors are putting her client through so much scrutiny.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
