Lawyer: Weinstein had long relationship with rape accuser

Associated Press

NEW YORK

The woman who has accused Harvey Weinstein of rape in his criminal case was in a decade-long relationship with him that continued after the purported attack in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013, a lawyer for the film producer said Tuesday.

Attorney Benjamin Brafman made the remark after meeting behind closed doors with prosecutors and a New York judge Tuesday over defense concerns about whether Weinstein can get a fair trial.

The criminal case revolves around two women, only one of whom, the former actress Lucia Evans, has gone public with her story of being forced to perform oral sex on Weinstein at his office in 2004.

Prosecutors haven’t identified the second accuser, who told investigators Weinstein confined her in a hotel room and raped her.

Brafman said he also wouldn’t identify the woman by name, but speaking to reporters outside a Manhattan courthouse, said she was “someone with whom he has had a 10-year consensual, sexual relationship, both before the alleged incident and after the alleged incident.”

Brafman called the allegation “serious on its face, but when you drill down on it, it is in my opinion also absurd.”

He added that the woman who made the rape claim was not Weinstein’s wife, Georgina Chapman, who married him in 2007 and filed for divorce after the scandal broke last fall.

Prosecutors left court without commenting. The Associated Press does not identify alleged victims of sexual assaults without their consent.

Weinstein, 66, surrendered last week and was led into court in handcuffs to face rape and criminal sex acts charges involving the two women.