New York Police Department's sex-crime division once needed to keep a woman hidden, who was accusing Harvey Weinstein of assault, helping her to steer clear of both the fallen movie producer's legal team as well as his support in the Manhattan District Attorney's office, says a Friday report.
Those involved in the case told New York magazine how they had Weinstein red-handed in 2015 after he reportedly fondled Italian model Ambra Battilina in his office.
This was however until Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr., whose office reportedly had close connections to Weinstein's legal team, decided not to prosecute the case, a decision that still bothers investigators on the case to this day, according to the magazine.
Apparently, the Weinstein review became so delicate, Special Victims Division commander Michael Osgood and his crew registered Battilana at Manhattan hotels under pseudonyms.
"We decided we're going to hide the victim," said the now retired Sgt. Michael Bock of NYPD's Special Victims Division. "From the DA."
Harvey's lawyers in the Battilana situation included attorneys Elkan Abramowitz and Linda Fairstein, who was the former lead of the Manhattan DA's Sex Crimes Unit.
Meanwhile, Abramowitz was a former partner of Vance Jr., and Fairstein, a friend of Martha Bashford, who still is head of the DA's Sex Crimes Unit from 2015 to today.
Battilana did end up meeting with Bashford, whom she was reportedly mercilessly grilled by, as she tried to upend her story.
"The questioning was aggressive and accusatory," said Bock.
However, a rep for Vance Jr., Joan Vollero, maintains that the questioning wasn't overly aggressive or accusatory.
"It is customary for prosecutors to discuss potential areas of cross-examination when meeting with complainants," said Vollero. "It was a normal, typical interview of a complainant."
Weinstein was looking at being charged with only a misdemeanor for the alleged assault, so the decision by Vance not to prosecute was seemingly even crazier, added Bock.
"They prosecute people for misdemeanors with far less probable cause than this. We gave them beyond reasonable doubt," explained Bock, previously on the NYPD's Special Victims Division. "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 have been arrested. He should've been arrested."
This week, Vance said his office is still looking into the Weinstein assault, however offered no clue as to whether an indictment was coming.
Ben Brafman, an attorney for Harvey Weinstein, later released a statement on behalf of the film mogul: "We are stunned that NY Magazine chose to report on the claim against Harvey Weinstein by Ambra Battilana 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. NY Magazine also failed to mention the fact that her Affidavit was reviewed by her and her own attorneys, including her long time Italian lawyer before she signed it under oath."
We'll have to see how this one plays out.