The New York police department is ready to make an arrest in the sexual assault case against Harvey Weinstein.
New York City’s chief of detectives, Robert Boyce, said on 7 March that police have gathered considerable evidence in the investigation, but it is up to the district attorney to decide whether, and when, the disgraced film producer gets indicted.
“It’s his case right now,” Boyce said of Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. “I would ask you to ask him.”
However, the Daily Beast, quoted a police official with direct knowledge of the case as saying: “We’re ready to go with an arrest.”
The district attorney’s office had no comment.
Boyce said investigators have been working diligently with women who alleged Weinstein raped them. The probe stems from a report in October by Boardwalk Empire actress Paz de la Huerta, who said Weinstein raped her twice in 2010.
Detectives have since travelled to Paris and Los Angeles to interview De la Huerta and others. They have sought phone, business and medical records. Witnesses were prepared to testify before a grand jury, which would determine whether Weinstein is indicted, Boyce said. The proceeding will not be public. “We’ve accumulated quite a bit of evidence,” Boyce added.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office is reviewing five cases against Weinstein, two brought by the Beverly Hills police department and three from Los Angeles police.
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 additional comment by 7 March.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has investigated Weinstein before, only to eventually back off from filing a criminal charge. In 2015, police conducted a sting after an Italian model accused Weinstein of groping her, secretly recording Weinstein apologising for this conduct.
The Manhattan DAO ultimately decided there was not enough proof and did not bring a case against Weinstein. Following criticism over the decision last year, prosecutors said police arranged the sting without their knowledge and there were proof issues, but police responded that they had presented enough evidence.
