The UK has dropped indecent assault charges against Harvey Weinstein, just months after the disgraced producer’s rape conviction was overturned in New York in 2020.
The Crown Prosecution Service is no longer pursuing two charges brought by a woman against the 72-year-old Miramax founder in June 2022 – relating to alleged assaults in London in 1996 – because there is no longer “a realistic prospect of conviction”, Variety reports.
“Having considered the evidence in this case, the CPS has decided to drop the criminal prosecution of Harvey Weinstein,” Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS’s special crime and counter-terrorism division, said, according to the outlet. “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 always encourage all potential victims of sexual assault to come forward and report the incident to the police and we will prosecute wherever our legal criteria are met,” Ferguson continued.
In April, the New York State Court of Appeals overturned the movie mogul’s 2020 convictions for the 2013 rape of aspiring actress Jessica Mann and the 2006 sexual assault of movie assistant Miriam Haley. At the time of the ruling, Weinstein was serving a 23-year prison sentence.
Days later, Manhattan prosecutors vowed to retry the case against the Oscar winner, who was also sentenced to 16 years in prison for his October 2022 conviction in Los Angeles on 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 currently “not in a position to extradite him.”
In July, they confirmed that Weinstein could face new sexual assault charges in a retrial tentatively scheduled for November 12.
