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Police in New York City on Friday said an actress who accused Harvey Weinstein of raping her twice in 2010 “is credible,” saying that authorities continue to gather evidence for a possible arrest warrant.
“We have an actual case here,” Robert Boyce, chief of detectives for the New York City Police Department, said at a briefing.
Boyce’s remarks came not long after Paz de la Huerta, the “Boardwalk Empire” actress, told Vanity Fair that Weinstein raped her twice during separate encounters in 2010.
Since the first allegations against Weinstein were published last month, a flood of other women have emerged with accounts against the producer. In the weeks that followed, an avalanche of other reports soon revealed allegations of sexual misconduct against high-profile men including studio chiefs, chefs, actors and journalists.
[ Violence. Threats. Begging. Harvey Weinstein’s 30-year pattern of abuse in Hollywood. ]
Boyce’s comments Friday offered a significant signal that Weinstein, whose public downfall helped spur the wave of other accusations, could face criminal charges.
Speaking to Vanity Fair on Wednesday, de la Huerta described being “terrified” of Weinstein, who she said assaulted her and then left her in a state of shock.
“I was very traumatized,” de la Huerta said in the interview. She added: “What happened with Harvey left me scarred for many years.”
Weinstein has “unequivocally denied” other allegations of nonconsensual sex as the list of women publicly accusing him of sexual misconduct has continued to grow. A spokeswoman for Weinstein did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday about de la Huerta’s allegations or Boyce’s comments.
[ ‘All that anger’s unleashed’: How sexual misconduct stories persuade other victims to come forward ]
Police in New York, Los Angeles and London have previously said they were investigating claims against Weinstein. Boyce said the New York police were first contacted about de la Huerta’s account Oct. 25, a week before she spoke to the magazine.
“She put forth a credible and detailed narrative to us,” Boyce said. “We then sought to garner corroboration. This happened seven years ago. And we found corroboration along the way.”
When asked what made her account so credible to police, Boyce pointed to the level of detail de la Huerta offered, saying she was able to “articulate each and every movement of the crime, where she was, where they met, where this happened and what he did.”
Five days before the New York police were contacted about de la Huerta, Boyce had said they were already looking into Weinstein. Boyce said in a statement that the department was following up on information regarding Weinstein while also referring calls they received to jurisdictions inside and outside the United States.
Boyce said police in New York are working on the Weinstein case along with prosecutors, collecting evidence and putting out subpoenas as they proceed.
Weinstein remains outside New York state, Boyce noted, adding that this means he poses no threat to anyone in New York City. Weinstein said he sought treatment after his swift, public downfall, and a spokesman has said he will continue doing so until at least later this month.
Boyce said that because the allegations are seven years old, police have to continue gathering evidence about what happened. But he left little doubt about how police view de la Huerta’s allegations against Weinstein.
“If this person were still in New York, and it was recent, we would go right away and make the arrest, no doubt,” Boyce said.
Further reading:
‘My pain is everyday’: After Weinstein’s fall, Trump accusers wonder: Why not him?
Where things stand with the growing number of Hollywood men accused of sexual misconduct
‘House of Cards’ suspends production indefinitely amid Kevin Spacey scandal
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Last year, Mr. Trump made denunciations of Sergeant Bergdahl a staple of his campaign speeches, repeatedly calling for him to be executed.
Ironically, Mr. Trump’s comments may have contributed to the decision not to sentence him to prison. After Mr. Trump seemed last month to endorse his harsh criticism from the campaign trail, Colonel Nance ruled that he would consider the comments as mitigating evidence at sentencing.
With the sentence still facing review by General Abrams and military appellate judges, Mr. Trump’s post-verdict comments on Twitter seemed to bolster efforts by the defense to have the sentence thrown out on appeal, some military law experts said, on the grounds that the president had unlawfully influenced the case.
“Trump just exponentially increased Bergdahl’s chances of getting this whole case tossed on appeal,” said Rachel VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles and a retired Air Force lawyer.
The tweet could be interpreted as an effort to pressure officers who still have some control over the sergeant’s fate not to reconsider his sentence, military law experts said.
Sergeant Bergdahl’s chief defense lawyer, Eugene R. Fidell, called the sentence “a tremendous relief” and said his client was still absorbing it.
Standing outside the military courthouse here, Mr. Fidell, who teaches military justice at Yale Law School, then took sharp aim at the commander in chief.
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“President Trump’s unprincipled effort to stoke a lynch-mob atmosphere while seeking our nation’s highest office has cast a dark cloud over the case,” he said. “Every American should be offended by his assault on the fair administration of justice and disdain for basic constitutional rights.”
Even though the defense had told the judge that a dishonorable discharge would be appropriate, Mr. Fidell said he hoped that it would be overturned. He noted that such a discharge would deprive his client of health care services and other “benefits he badly needs” from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Sergeant Bergdahl is expected to return to an Army base as the case winds through the appeals process.
Sergeant Bergdahl was 23 and a private first class when he left his base in eastern Afghanistan in June 2009. Army investigators would later characterize his departure as a delusional effort to hike to a larger base and cause enough of a stir that he would get an audience with a senior officer to report what he felt were problems in his unit.
But the soldier, who is now 31, was captured by the Taliban within hours and spent five years as a prisoner, his treatment worsening after every attempt to escape. He was beaten with copper cables and held in isolation in a metal cage less than seven feet square. He suffered dysentery for most of his captivity, and cleaned feces off his hands with his own urine so that he could eat enough bread to survive.
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The military searched for him, and several troops were wounded during those missions. One of them, Sgt. First Class Mark Allen, was shot through the head and lost the ability to walk, talk or take care of himself, and now has minimal consciousness. His wife, Shannon, testified that he is not even able to hold hands with her anymore. On a separate rescue mission, Senior Chief Petty Officer Jimmy Hatch, a Navy SEAL, suffered a leg wound that required 18 surgical procedures and ended his long career in special operations.
Army investigators quickly dismissed claims that troops had died searching for Sergeant Bergdahl — who was promoted during captivity — or that he had intended to defect to the Taliban. They suggested that he could be prosecuted for desertion and for some lesser crimes. But in March 2015, the Army raised the stakes, accusing him not only of desertion but also of misbehavior before the enemy, an ancient but rarely charged crime punishable by up to life in prison. In this case, the misbehavior was endangering the troops sent to search for him.
Even so, the sergeant’s defense seemed to have some momentum. The Army’s chief investigator on the case testified at Sergeant Bergdahl’s preliminary hearing that he did not believe any jail time was warranted, and the preliminary hearing officer suggested the whole episode might have been avoided “had concerns about Sergeant Bergdahl’s mental health been properly followed up.”
But at Fort Bragg, General Abrams ordered that Sergeant Bergdahl face a general court-martial on both charges.
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Once Mr. Trump was inaugurated, Sergeant Bergdahl’s defense team demanded that the case be dismissed. There was no way the sergeant could receive a fair trial, his lawyers said, since everyone in the military justice system now reported to President Trump as commander in chief.
Colonel Nance labeled Mr. Trump’s comments about Sergeant Bergdahl “disturbing,” but declined to throw out the case. Then, last month, Mr. Trump seemed to endorse his earlier sentiments about Sergeant Bergdahl, saying, “I think people have heard my comments in the past.”
After another protest by the defense, Colonel Nance ruled that he would consider the president’s comments as mitigation evidence.
During the sentencing hearing, Sergeant Bergdahl apologized for his misconduct, saying he never intended for anyone to get hurt, and that he grieved “for those who have suffered and their families.”
He added, “I’m admitting I made a horrible mistake.”
The lead Army prosecutor, Maj. Justin Oshana, drew a comparison between Sergeant Bergdahl and those who were hurt through his actions.
“It wasn’t a mistake,” Major Oshana said of the sergeant’s decision to walk off his base. “It was a crime.”
Responding to testimony about how captivity had left Sergeant Bergdahl with physical pain, Major Oshana noted that at least the sergeant was able to talk about it. Sergeant Allen was constantly in pain, too, he said, but no longer possessed the ability to describe it.
“Sergeant Bergdahl does not have a monopoly on suffering as a result of his choices,” Major Oshana added.
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The defense argued that Sergeant Bergdahl had already suffered a severe penalty for his crimes by being tortured during five years in captivity.
“It is undisputed that Sergeant Bergdahl paid a bitter price for the decision he made,” one of his lawyers, Capt. Nina Banks, told Colonel Nance. She said that a dishonorable discharge was appropriate, but asked that he be spared prison.
The defense argued that Sergeant Bergdahl’s decision to walk away was influenced by a then-undiagnosed severe personality disorder.
Captain Banks also told the judge that the harsh comments by Mr. Trump meant that the sergeant’s persecution did not stop when he was freed.
“Sergeant Bergdahl has been punished enough,” she said.
Correction: November 3, 2017
Because of a production error, an earlier headline with this article misstated Bowe Bergdahl’s sentence. It was a dishonorable, not an honorable, discharge.
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