Cops set up a controlled phone call with Harvey
Weinstein and his 22-year-old
accuser and — given the chance — he didn’t deny touching the Italian model,
a source familiar with the recorded conversation told the Daily News.
Ambra Battilana then convinced Weinstein to meet
him at a restaurant at the Tribeca Grand Hotel, a rendezvous under the watchful
eyes of the NYPD, the source added.
“He didn’t deny doing what she said he did to
her,” the source told The News, referring to the call. “The content of the
phone call, there’s no question about what he did.”
The source added that it was clear from the
conversation that he touched Battilana.
“If he denies it, if he says he didn’t touch her
breasts and privates, he’s toast,” the source said.
The overheard call and restaurant meeting
happened sometime between her notifying police on Friday and when Weinstein
voluntarily spoke to cops on Saturday. It wasn’t clear if the movie mogul was
made aware of the controlled call. He spoke to cops briefly and asked for a
lawyer.
A source close to Weinstein, a married
63-year-old father of five, denied he did anything wrong.
“I couldn’t be more confident that nothing
untoward happened with Harvey and that this is a setup like we’ve never seen,”
that source said. “And I think it’s pretty clear that it’s part of a pattern.”
Battilana told authorities she was invited to
stop by Weinstein’s Tribeca office for a meeting after they crossed paths
Thursday night on the red carpet at Radio City Music Hall. But once she arrived
at his third-floor office on Greenwich St. on Friday, she claims Weinstein
asked if her breasts were real before groping Battilana’s chest and slipping a
hand under her skirt, sources told The News.
The filmmaker backed off when the model ardently
rejected his unwanted advances — and a request for a kiss, sources quoted
Battilana as telling authorities.
Sources indicated Battilana contacted a
girlfriend and went to the NYPD that same night. Security video showed the
model speaking on the phone as she walked briskly out of the Tribeca building
just 31 minutes after arriving, sources told the News.
Meanwhile, the Manhattan district attorney rolled
out his top gun Wednesday in the high-profile probe. Assistant District
Attorney Martha Bashford, chief of the DA’s Sex Crimes Unit, met with Battilana
— a session hailed by her new attorney as a major development.
“They’re taking this very seriously,” said lawyer
David Godosky about the investigation. “ADA Bashford is a top-drawer
prosecutor. If I were the victim or the target defendant, I would assume they
are taking it very seriously.”
Godosky, who was spotted with the one-time beauty
contestant outside the NYPD’s Special Victims Squad in East Harlem, confirmed
his client was cooperating with authorities investigating the Friday night
incident.
The
curvaceous Battilana went incognito as she left the meeting with
investigators, with oversized sunglasses covering her face and a scarf wrapped
around her head.
She zipped off in a waiting car without saying a
word, and has yet to publicly tell her tale of what happened during her
“business meeting” with the Oscar-winning producer.
“They’re taking the investigation by steps,” said
Godosky. Asked if the case would go to a grand jury, he replied, “That’s the
decision of the New York County district attorney.”
Weinstein has insisted the investigation will
clear him. The Hollywood hot shot was behind “Pulp Fiction,” “Gangs of New
York” and “Shakespeare in Love,” among other box office and critical successes.
Battilana, once a contender for the crown of Miss
Italy, shares a modeling agency with top catwalkers Bar Refaeli, Bridget Hall,
Claudia Schiffer and Eva Herzgova.
Her employer lists the statuesque stunner as
5-foot-10 with dark brown hair.
Matthew Galluzzo, a former Manhattan sex crimes
prosecutor, said he expected the current investigation would include a session
with Weinstein and his attorneys.
“I think they’re probably going to give Harvey
Weinstein and his lawyer an opportunity to respond,” said Galluzzo. “I would
say there’s no urgency in terms of flight risk. They will probably invite him
in, if he wants to come.”
According to Galluzzo, Weinstein could face
misdemeanor charges of forcible touching or sexual abuse if the allegations
prove credible.
The prosecutor will likely check for “prompt
outcry” witnesses — friends or relatives who heard immediately from the accuser
after their 6 p.m. Friday meeting. Any communications between the two —
including text messages or emails — could also impact the investigation, he
said.
Battilana’s 2011 testimony about an orgy
involving the former Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is another
factor to consider.
“They’ll try to assess her credibility,
obviously,” said ex-prosecutor Galluzzo.
A source told the News that the model had also
sued a 70-year-old man, known as Mr. G., for sexual assault when she was still
underaged. The Italian man claimed the relationship was consensual, and he
lavished her with pricey gifts in return for her sexual favors.
Godosky
was hired to replace Mark Heller as the accuser’s lawyer on Wednesday as
the probe moved forward. There was no immediate explanation for the switch in
representation.
The high-profile Heller’s colorful clientele has
included Lindsay Lohan and her mom Dina, self-proclaimed “King of All Pimps”
Jason Itzler and “Manhattan Madam” Kristin Davis.
Godosky is a former Bronx prosecutor who was also
appointed as a criminal court judge by Mayor Michael Bloomberg before returning
to work as a trial lawyer.
No comments:
Post a Comment