Weinstein lawyers reveal more affectionate emails from alleged victim

Defense lawyers for disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein revealed more affectionate emails on Thursday from one of his alleged sex-assault victims in court papers that could raise new doubts about the credibility of his accusers in the New York State criminal case against him.

Mimi Haleyi, a former Weinstein assistant allegedly forced to let him perform oral sex in 2006, emailed that it was “great to see” him in Cannes in 2008, and signed off, “Lots of love,” as well as, “Hope you’re super well” and “Peace & love” on messages, according to the new filing.

Weinstein lawyer Ben Brafman asked Manhattan Judge James Burke to dismiss the charges against Weinstein because friendly emails from Haleyi and another, unnamed, victim that were previously revealed, were never disclosed by prosecutors to grand jurors.

“These women who now allege sexual assault by Mr. Weinstein have for years engaged in loving and often intimate conversations with him before and after the date of the alleged assault, conversations with a man they now claim to have sexually assaulted them,”  Brafman wrote.

Prosecutors declined to comment on the latest filing, but Gloria Allred, Haleyi’s lawyer, said cordial communications didn’t necessarily discredit an allegation of a previous assault.

“It is very common for a victim of a crime to have communication with an individual who assaulted her after the assault took place,” Allred said. “Mr. Weinstein’s legal team’s efforts seeking to undermine her allegations should be viewed as simply a pathetic and rather transparent attempt to try Mr. Weinstein’s case in the media.”

Weinstein, 66, has been accused in civil suits and news reports of abusing his power in the film industry to grope dozens of women, and was criminally charged this year with making actress Lucia Evans perform oral sex in 2004, assaulting Haleyi in 2006, and raping an unnamed woman in 2013.

The charges involving Evans were dismissed after evidence surfaced that she had told a friend the Weinstein encounter was consensual and an NYPD detective had covered it up. Brafman says his client has been railroaded by police and prosecutors because of public outcry.

In another new allegation Thursday, Brafman said a close friend of the unnamed woman alleging rape in 2013 — known as “CW-1” — told defense investigators that CW-1 never complained about Weinstein’s behavior until this year, and then tried to get her to “assist” by vouching for her story.

The friend has told police about the request, said Brafman, who asked the judge to conduct an evidentiary hearing on police and prosecutorial misconduct.