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NEW YORK CITY police have said that an actress’ rape allegations against Harvey Weinstein are credible, and if the movie mogul were in the state and the accusation more recent, they would move to arrest him immediately.
Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said investigators have interviewed actress Paz de la Huerta. She has publicly accused Weinstein of raping her twice in her apartment in 2010 and called police about it on 26 October.
Boyce said detectives found the Boardwalk Empire actress’ story believable and that two people corroborated portions of her account. They have subpoenaed people in the case.
“If this person was still in New York, and it was recent, we’d go right away and make the arrest. No doubt,” Boyce said of Weinstein. “But we’re talking about a 7-year-old case. And we have to move forward gathering evidence first.”
The factors that made her story credible included: “The ability to articulate each and every minute of the crime, where she was, where they met, where this happened and what he did,” he said.
An email message sent to Weinstein representative Sallie Hofmeister was not immediately returned. Weinstein (65) has previously denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.
Initial allegations
The investigation comes a month after The New York Times published an expose of sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein, leading to his firing from the company he co-founded and his expulsion from the organization that bestows the Academy Awards. Since then, dozens of women have come forward to tell similar tales of harassment or assault.
Investigators in London and California were also looking into allegations made by women, but no other department has suggested allegations could result in criminal charges. New York doesn’t have a statute of limitations on rape.
De la Huerta claims
De la Huerta told CBS News that the first rape occurred in October 2010 after Weinstein gave her a ride home from a party, insisted on having a drink in her apartment and forced himself on her.
She said the second rape occurred in December 2010 after Weinstein showed up at her apartment. She had been drinking and was not in a condition to give consent, CBS reported the actress said.
Police said she didn’t come forward earlier because she was afraid of damaging her career and wasn’t sure anyone would believe the allegations against such a powerful Hollywood player.
Weinstein has an apartment and had an office for his production company in New York City, but his exact whereabouts today were unknown.
Arrest warrant
Boyce said Weinstein knows police wish to speak with him. Weinstein’s representatives have not responded to media inquiries about where he is, but TMZ today posted a photo of a man it said was Weinstein in disguise eating at a Phoenix restaurant.
A person who answered the phone and said he was a manager at the Chestnut Fine Foods & Provisions restaurant in Phoenix said Weinstein dined there last night. The person declined to give their name.
New York City investigators could seek an arrest warrant, which requires a court order or hand the evidence over to prosecutors to put the allegations to a grand jury to seek an indictment. Either way, they need collaboration from Manhattan prosecutors, who put the brakes on a 2015 investigation into Weinstein.
Ambra Battilana Guiterrez told police the movie magnate touched her thigh, grabbed her breasts and asked “are these real?” during a meeting in his Manhattan office on 27 March 2015. Police investigated it as a possible case of forcible touching, a misdemeanour with a two-year time limit for bringing charges under New York law.
Investigators conducted a sting, listening to a call between the two and getting the Italian model to record an in-person encounter in which Weinstein alternated between trying to persuade her to come into his hotel room and apologizing for his conduct at his office.
No charges were brought because the district attorney concluded they were not supported.
After the recent flood of allegations against Weinstein brought new scrutiny of that decision, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s top assistant prosecutor said that police had arranged the 2015 sting without prosecutors’ knowledge and that there were other “proof issues”.
The NYPD pushed back, saying it had used established investigative techniques to present prosecutors with a recording that corroborated Gutierrez’s complaint, plus other statements and information.
But Boyce said detectives were working collaboratively with the district attorney’s office on this case. Vance’s office said a senior prosecutor has been assigned but didn’t comment further.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they speak publicly, which de la Huerta and Guiterrez have done.
On another front, a New York City AIDS charity, amfAR, confirmed today a report that it has received a subpoena from federal prosecutors investigating Weinstein’s involvement in 2015 fundraising event.
The New York Times reported that authorities are trying to find out if fraud occurred when $600,000 raised at the auction went to a theatre that had staged a musical produced by Weinstein. A spokeswoman for Weinstein declined to discuss the inquiry, but said he had raised tens of millions of dollars for amfAR in the past several years, the newspaper said.
The charity said in a statement that it is not a target of the probe and is cooperating with investigators.
The US attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment to The Associated Press.
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I remember we had a democratic vote here in this Country in 2008. The Country voted no to the Lisbon treaty only to be told that actually lads that’s not the answer were looking for, we’ll have to do that again until we get the right answer.
Yes and the media never said a bad word about this erosion of democracy we only have the illusion of choice
Yet people were stupid enough to vote yes the second time
Well said Tom, we can be just the lackey the North Koreans are, at least when it comes to the EU referendums
In fairness they were told to vote yes for jobs if I remember correctly Fergal……
You’re right Kerry I remember seeing that promise about jobs on posters and thinking these politicians would say mass and the sad part is people will believe it
Those jobs never came more broken promises when are people going to wake up from their brainwashed state of sheep
When they put yes for jobs on the posters I thought people could never be so stupid. I was proved wrong again.
You are bemoaning that you were allowed to vote for a second time on something? Given that the vote went through it is obvious the decision to hold a vote again was right. What people want can change you know. And it did in this case. But no, pretend the EU is North Korea – because that’s more fun
Ah come on really? Are you suggesting a political slogan on a poster constitutes a promise? If it does how are you measuring whether this promise was fulfilled? Do you have stats on where unemployment would be if Lisbon hadn’t been passed? What time period are you measuring over?
Liam
Maybe when you grow up and start thinking like a man you will understand that one vote should of been enough. I’m not sure if you are immature or trolling.
Are you actually on a thread about North Korea complaining that people in Ireland are asked for their opinion in votes too often? You are just trotting out the usual anti EU nonsense without thinking it through.
As yourself something Liam. Do you honestly think the people would have been afforded the oppourtunity to vote again if the result of the first referendum was yes? Or were we simply allowed to vote again because the powers that be wanted a different answer.
Democracy at its best , Yes or die
Still more cost-effective than our model. “We’ll keep running it until we get a yes.”
I couldn’t get this on paddy power. :(
91% turnout? North Koreas population set to decrease by 9% so
Soylent green production up by 9%
That’s 91% by 2pm – the other 9% will be along shortly.
Not much different here, you might have 4 or 5 choices but at the end of the day it’s all the same, jobs for the boys and big pensions,
Because that’s what the people want, anyone can go on the ballot
You do great disservice to those living under such regimes. Ireland can change its leadership if people don’t like it. They cannot. Muppet…
Very similar to the voting system in Co Louth…
No it’s not Kris. The people of Louth democratically vote for their TDs. The people of North Korea don’t. But sure don’t let that get in the way of any opportunity to knock Sinn Féin. Something something child abuse. Something something the disappeared. Something something something something.
Just like we can change Lisbon and nice
Even bigger Muppet Lm…
O Reilly go back to school tosser
Beware of the voices Roland…
Only every 4yrs we can change in the mean time a government can destroy a country like FG is doing very well.
We can change the ‘leadership’ but only their name? Fianna Fail, Fine Gael they are all the fianna same.
Change will only mattet when the people who ‘govern’ us do so for the benefit of ALL the people.
There won’t be too many spoilt votes in that Election.
North Korea is Best Korea.
人人生来自由，在尊严和权利上一律平等。他们有理性和良心，请以手足关系的精神相对待。
Now stick that in your pipe and smoke it!
ليس هناك شيء أكثر خطورة من احمق الحيلة.
I think this is more appropriate for you Spud Jones
Actually this is korean》멍청이! Translate that.
I don’t like spiders.
Your on the wrong continent there Alan
Shame The Government didn’t just fill out the forms for them and let them have a lie in on Sunday morning. Poor form.
Those North Koreans could learn a thing or two from us paddies. We don’t need the threat of execution to do what we’re told. We just do it like lemmings.
I know who I’d be voting for
I voted no to the Lisbon treaty and then what happened? So don’t even try have a go about North Korean, Irish Government are cowards
Seems legit
Didn’t we vote twice on the same referenda a few times?
I think so, wasn’t Nice voted on twice?
Yep and Lisbon. They don’t do democracy here either.
Yes but our referenda have two boxes.
Touche
Ya see ireland hey……it’s not the worst!
apparently in DPRK you can vote No once in your life but it isn’t recommended
Dear Leader makes me happy in pants.
I for one wish to welcome our glorious leader – Kim Jong Merkell and praise be for the gift of austerity that has been bestowed upon us.
The only difference between dictatorships and democracy is we can vote for different dictators.
At least it leaves very little opportunity for interfering with the count and changing the outcome.
“When the people fear the government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people there is liberty.”
Thomas Jefferson
The headline could also apply to an Irish Referendum concerning Europe!
The Irish love democracy when their team are winning …
Bit like the irish electorate and fine fail during the boom…..except irish people actually had a choice!
All Western Propaganda. North Korea is a paradise. We in Ireland could learn so much about how a centrally planned economy is so much better for us. Oh, we voted twice for a referendum – Ireland is just the same as North Korea.
Sad!
“We go to polling station”. Now, I don’t know anything about Korean, but I’m willing to bet the original title of this song sounded grammatical. Why, then, was it not translated as “We go to the polling station”? By leaving out the definite article, the author is attempting to make the supposedly ignorant locals sound barbarous, with Tarzan-like speech. Poor form.
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