Attorneys for disgraced Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein said in a court filing that they plan to seek dismissal of the sex assault case against him in New York, NBC News reported.
The filing was made in Delaware bankruptcy court on Wednesday, and argues that emails between Weinstein and one of his accusers obtained as part of the Weinstein Company's chapter 11 request would clear his name and that "the failure of the district attorney to provide this evidence to the grand jury warrants a dismissal of the indictment."
It's not clear which of the three accusers in the New York indictment is involved in the email chain, which an attorney said in the filing amounts to fewer than 40 messages. The Delaware filing requests an emergency hearing to seek permission to use redacted versions of the emails in the New York case.
His lawyers say the permission is urgent, as pretrial motions in the New York rape case are due Friday. They say in the filing they are seeking a dismissal of the indictment "for, among other reasons, the failure of the prosecutor to advise the grand jury of the substance of exculpatory communications made by the one of three complaining witnesses underlying the counts of the indictment and contained in the e-mails sought for use here."
The Manhattan District Attorney's office declined to comment.
