UK prosecutors drop indecent assault charges against Harvey Weinstein
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has announced two indecent assault charges against Harvey Weinstein have been dropped because there is not a "realistic prospect of conviction".
Indecent assault charges against Harvey Weinstein in the UK have been dropped.
The disgraced movie mogul - who is currently serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted on three counts of sexual assault in a Los Angeles court in 2022 and awaiting a retrial after his 2020 convictions for first degree criminal sexual assault and third degree rape were overturned in April after the New York Court of Appeals ruled he didn’t receive a fair trial - had been under investigation by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), but the case will no longer be pursued as there is not a "realistic prospect of conviction".
The CPS authorised two indecent assault against a woman charges in June 2022, stepping from an alleged incident in London in 1996, but they have now dropped the case.
Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said in a statement: “Following a review of the evidence in this case, the CPS has decided to discontinue criminal proceedings against Harvey Weinstein. 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.
"We have explained our decision to all parties.
"We would always encourage any potential victims of sexual assault to come forward and report to police and we will prosecute wherever our legal test is met."
In 2020, Weinstein, 72, was found guilty of first degree criminal sexual assault and third degree rape based on the testimony of production assistant Miriam Haley and former actress Jessica Mann but the convictions were overturned this year after an appellate court ruled the judge prejudiced the jury by allowing women to testify about sexual harassment and assault allegations that were not part of the case behind heard.
A retrial in the New York case is scheduled to begin in November.
