Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers are trying to get rid of charges from one of his 80-plus accusers by saying she couldn’t have been raped the morning police said she was because she attended a movie premiere later that day.The movie mogul’s defense attorneys say the accuser, allegedly raped by Weinstein on March 18, 2013, attended a movie screening with a friend at Weinstein’s invitation just hours after the alleged assault. The accuser was not identified.“Why would an alleged rape victim go out of her way to spend time with her ‘rapist’ merely hours after she was allegedly attacked?” defense attorney Benjamin Brafman wrote in a letter to the judge.Weinstein’s attorneys are characterizing the revelations as “quite startling new information” and are asking the New York judge to dismiss the remainder of the charges. One of the multiple sexual assault charges against Weinstein was dismissed in October after accuser Lucia Evans may have perjured herself before the grand jury. Weinstein is still facing five other criminal charges related to sexual assaults — one that allegedly occurred in 2013, another in 2006 — of two more women. He’s face two counts of predatory sexual assault, which means he could serve life in prison.New York district attorneys have asked the judge to deny the request."The two remaining counts of indictment are fully supported by competent evidence that is wholly unrelated to the evidence presented in support of count six," Assistant District Attorney Kevin Wilson said in a letter.Cover: Harvey Weinstein enters State Supreme Court in New York. Lawyers for Weinstein say they’ve uncovered new evidence that further undermines rape allegations against him. The lawyers said Friday, Dec. 7 in a letter to the New York City judge overseeing Weinstein’s criminal case that a friend of the alleged victim has said the two attended a movie screening hosted by the former film mogul hours after prosecutors say the attack took place in 2013. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
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