A drug possession charge against actor Rose McGowan, one of the principal figures accusing fallen movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, moved a significant step closer to trial on Thursday.
A charge against her relating to possession of cocaine will go before a grand jury, a judge in Virginia ruled.
The cocaine was found in a wallet McGowan left behind on a flight that had brought her to Washington for the inaugural Women’s March the day after Donald Trump’s inauguration in January 2017.
She sought to have the charges against her dismissed at a preliminary hearing on Thursday in Leesburg, Virginia, suggesting the drugs may even have been planted in her belongings by agents hired by Weinstein. Weinstein has been accused of using former secret agents to spy on accusers such as McGowan.
McGowan was among the first of a catalogue of celebrities to accuse Weinstein of a litany of bullying behavior and abuse of power to inflict harm ranging from harassment to rape on women in the film business. McGowan and others also say Weinstein aggressively sought to discredit his accusers. Weinstein denies all allegations of non-consensual sexual conduct.
Attorneys for McGowan argue that hours passed between the actor arriving at a Washington area airport and her wallet being found, therefore there is no proof that drugs found inside belong to her.
An aircraft cleaner testified on Thursday that he found a black wallet under a seat in the first class cabin after passengers had deplaned. It had cash, documentation identifying McGowan and a small quantity of white powder in it. This was later identified as cocaine, Judge Dean Worcester heard. The cleaner called a supervisor, who alerted the authorities at Dulles international airport, according to a local report of the hearing.
Defense attorney Jessica Carmichael argued in court that the case was “so obviously flawed from its inception, so weak that it never should have been brought”.
But Worcestor ordered the case to be reviewed by a grand jury. A guilty verdict brings punishment of up to a year in jail.
