New York detectives investigating a 2015 sexual assault complaint against Harvey Weinstein physically “hid the victim” from staff working for the Manhattan district attorney, reportedly fearing she would be treated unfairly and the case dropped.
After an investigation in which one officer told New York magazine the NYPD went “above and beyond”, given what it saw as attempts by the DA’s office to undermine its work, DA Cyrus Vance did indeed decide not to prosecute.
NYPD investigators told the magazine they believed they had a strong case against Weinstein after an Italian model, Ambra Battilana, alleged that she had been sexually assaulted.
But the detectives also feared that Vance, who had dropped a sexual-assault case against former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, would be reluctant to prosecute another powerful man.
Police later became certain Vance’s office was working to derail their investigation, the magazine reported, leading the commander of the NYPD’s special victims division, Michael Osgood, to confine knowledge of the case by keeping it off the department’s computer system.
Battilana, meanwhile, was booked into a series of Manhattan hotels under assumed names.
“We decided we’re going to hide the victim,” retired Sgt Michael Bock told the magazine. “From the DA.”
Vance has come under fire for accepting campaign contributions from lawyers connected to cases under investigation by his office. The New York magazine report details ties Weinstein’s legal team maintained with the DA’s staff.
Weinstein’s legal team included attorneys Elkan Abramowitz, a former partner of Vance, and Linda Fairstein, a former head of the Manhattan DA’s sex crimes unit and a friend of its current chief, Martha Bashford.
According to Bock, investigators from the DA’s office conducted an aggressive background investigation which included asking Battilana’s roommates if she was a prostitute, if she brought home lots of strange men and if she was a stripper.
When Battilana met Bashford, Bock said, she was grilled about her personal life, including questions about infamous sex parties thrown by former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. She told Bashford she and her friends had left one such party as soon as the sex started.
“The questioning was aggressive and accusatory,” Bock said. “The victim was upset. She felt like she was under attack.”
Three days later, Vance decided not to prosecute.
“We gave them beyond a reasonable doubt,” Bock said. “We obviously know who this man is. We obviously know we have a different burden of proof. So to go above and beyond as we did, he should’ve been arrested. He should’ve been arrested.”
Joan Vollero, an adviser to Vance, rejected claims that questioning had been overly aggressive.
“It is customary for prosecutors to discuss potential areas of cross-examination when meeting with complainants,” Vollero told the magazine. “This characterization of the meeting is incorrect and, moreover, troubling. It was a normal, typical interview of a complainant.”
In a statement emailed to the Guardian on Saturday night, attorney Ben Brafman said New York magazine had reported on Battilana’s claim “without including the fact that in a sworn affidavit, Ambra stated in substance that her complaint against Harvey was the result of a misunderstanding and that her decision to report the incident to the police, was attributed by her to ‘bad advice’ she received”.
Earlier this week, Vance said his prosecutors were still investigating Weinstein. Earlier this month, a police official told the Daily Beast the department was “ready to go with an arrest” and was awaiting only the go-ahead from Vance.
Weinstein has been accused of sexual harassment and assault by multiple women. Through a spokeswoman, he has “unequivocally denied … any allegations of nonconsensual sex”.
