Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to sex crime charges

The lawyer for former movie titan Harvey Weinstein said he might seek two separate trials on sex-crimes charges as his client pleaded not guilty at an arraignment before an overflow crowd of reporters, lawyers and gawkers in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Weinstein was indicted last week on charges of raping an unnamed woman in 2013 and forcing a young actress to engage in oral sex in 2004, but defense attorney Ben Brafman said the two alleged incidents had no common thread and that Weinstein insists his sexual conduct was always consensual.

“However reprehensible the crime of rape is, it is equally reprehensible to falsely accuse someone of rape,” Brafman told Judge James Burke. “Mr. Weinstein has denied these allegations. He enjoys the presumption of innocence. He intends to vigorously fight these charges.”

Weinstein, free on $1 million bail, entered court at 10 a.m., unshaven, walking with a distinct limp and wearing a blue sport coat and jeans, with a white shirt and tie. He said little during the 30-minute hearing aside from when he was asked about his plea. He responded “not guilty” in a deep voice.

Last week’s charges from a grand jury empaneled by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance followed a monthslong investigation triggered last fall, when published reports began detailing a flood of accusations from women about how he used his power to take sexual advantage.

Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon told Burke her office expected to file a so-called Molineux motion, seeking permission to call women to testify to uncharged misconduct to show a pattern of misbehavior by Weinstein, similar to a tactic used in the recent prosecution of Bill Cosby.

She also exchanged words with Brafman about leaks and out-of-court statements in the high-profile case, complaining about comments in which he questioned why both alleged victims waited years to come forward and argued that typical Hollywood behavior that was merely boorish wasn’t a crime.

“We were not the people who went out and started talking about the casting couch, really undermining the seriousness of these charges,” Illuzzi-Orbon said.

Brafman said he would oppose any evidence of uncharged acts, and was considering a challenge to the charges based on the statute of limitations, which was extended in New York in 2006, in addition to a motion to sever trial of the rape and oral sex charges.

“The two are eight to 10 years apart, they do not have any relationship to one another, and they do not fit any pattern,” he said.

The two sides also reacted to a lawsuit filed last week against Weinstein in which Melissa Thompson, a tech saleswoman who alleges Weinstein raped her, also charged that an associate of Brafman’s law firm collected information from her by pretending to represent Weinstein victims.

Brafman and the associate, Alex Spiro, have said the interaction occurred after Spiro left Brafman’s firm and was seeking clients for his new practice, but was still using the “braflaw.com” email address. Brafman called the accusation against him “reckless.”

In response to questions from Burke, Illuzzi-Orbon and Brafman said they had agreed the accusation did not bar Brafman from representing Weinstein. If prosecutors call Thompson, who reportedly has met with the district attorney’s office, as a witness to uncharged conduct, Brafman told the judge he wouldn’t use any information still on his email server to cross-examine her.

Burke scheduled Weinstein’s next court appearance for Sept. 20.

Actress Lucia Evans has said she was the woman involved in the 2004 incident, at a film company office in TriBeCa. The unidentified woman allegedly raped in 2013 in a hotel had a 10-year consensual relationship with Weinstein both before and after the incident, Brafman said.

Weinstein is charged with a first-degree criminal sexual act for forced oral sex, and alternatively with first- and third-degree rape for the 2013 incident. Prosecutors said they were still investigating possible additional charges involving other women.