Britain has fallen allegations against Harvey Weinsteinjust months after the disgraced producer’s 2020 New York City rape conviction overturned.
The Crown Prosecution Service is no longer pursuing the two charges brought against one woman 72-year-old Miramax founder in June 2022 — regarding alleged abuse in London in 1996 — on the grounds that there was no longer “a realistic prospect of conviction,” Variety reports.
“Following a review of the evidence in this case, the CPS has decided to suspend criminal proceedings against Harvey Weinstein,” Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, told the news agency. “The CPS has a duty to keep all cases under continuous review and we have decided that there is no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.”
Ferguson said the decision has been explained “to all parties.
“We would always encourage any potential victim of sexual assault to come forward and report to the police and we will prosecute wherever our legal test is met,” Ferguson continued.
Back in April, the state New York Court of Appeals. overturned the movie mogul’s beliefs in 2020 for raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and criminal sexual act for assault film assistant Miriam Haley in 2006. At the time of the decision, Weinstein was serving a 23-year sentence.
Days later, Manhattan prosecutors vowed to retry his case against the Oscar winner — who was also sentenced to 16 years in prison for his October 2022 Los Angeles convicted of three counts of rape and sexual assault. At the time, it was reported that Weinstein would remain in custody in New York and that California was not currently “in a position to extradite” him.
In July they confirmed Weinstein may be charged with new sexual assaults during the new trial, which is tentatively set for November 12.