Weinstein criminal case may be crumbling, experts say

In the wake of Weinstein’s arrest in May, his accusers’ hopes hinged on the prospect of a parade of women testifying as “prior bad act” witnesses, given that dozens of women had come forward with their own troubling accounts involving the producer, including high-profile actresses like Angelina Jolie and Uma Thurman. That tactic helped the prosecution in Pennsylvania land a conviction for Bill Cosby in this year’s sexual assault retrial. But that is rarely allowed in New York and is a difficult legal hurdle for a prosecutor to overcome. Brafman also is prepared to present emails that would undercut possible witnesses.

In fact, Weinstein’s fate may hang on the admissibility of additional emails. Attorney Alan Dershowitz, who was brought on by Brafman as a consultant, says there are more emails the defense plans to present as exculpatory evidence, even as lawyers for accusers complain about the strategy out of confidentiality concerns.

“You can’t both accuse someone publicly and then hide behind privacy to keep highly relevant evidence out,” says Dershowitz. “The evidence I’ve seen doesn’t embarrass anyone. It suggests a loving relationship that seems fairly commonplace. For people who say, ‘This is the way that people behave [after an assault] and you can’t make judgments on these things,’ well that’s for the public to judge and for courts to judge.”