Harvey Weinstein's legal team has "dozens and dozens and dozens" of "loving" emails written by witnesses who accuse him of sexual misconduct, one of the former film mogul's defense attorneys said in court Tuesday.
The judge overseeing Weinstein's trial ruled Tuesday that the producer's defense attorneys can talk about the emails but cannot show them. He also prohibited Weinstein's lawyers from using the emails in their opening statements, which are slated to begin Wednesday in the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
The emails "undercut" prosecutors' arguments that Weinstein was a serial sexual predator, defense attorney Damon Cheronis said.
Cheronis claimed one accuser sent his client an email after an alleged encounter giving him her new phone number, while another sent him an email after another alleged encounter in which she sought to introduce him to her mother.
"We have dozens and dozens and dozens of emails which include statements from complaining witnesses that they were involved in a relationship with Mr. Weinstein, including loving relationships and sexual encounters, and show in one case that they care about him," Cheronis said, later characterizing the emails as "loving."
The defense did not go into further detail about the alleged encounters referred to in the emails.
Weinstein, 68, faces charges he raped a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performed a forcible sex act on another woman in 2006. He has pleaded not guilty in the case and has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.
He also faces a sex crime case in Los Angeles, where he is charged with raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in separate incidents on two consecutive days in 2013.
In all, more than 80 women have accused the Oscar-winning producer of sexual misconduct, ranging from rape to sexual assault and harassment, going back decades.
