{"id":53608,"date":"2017-11-29T09:11:39","date_gmt":"2017-11-29T09:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=53608"},"modified":"2017-11-29T09:11:39","modified_gmt":"2017-11-29T09:11:39","slug":"weinstein-accuser-seeks-set-legal-precedent-sex-trafficking-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/entertainment\/weinstein-accuser-seeks-set-legal-precedent-sex-trafficking-law.html","title":{"rendered":"Weinstein accuser seeks to set legal precedent with sex trafficking law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Weinstein accuser seeks to set legal precedent with sex trafficking law<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The lawyer representing Harvey Weinstein\u2019s latest accuser is attempting to set legal precedent by contending Weinstein\u2019s actions overseas make him liable for civil damages under a criminal law against sex trafficking, five legal experts said.<\/span><\/p>\n

British actress Kadian Noble, 31, sued the Hollywood mogul in U.S. District Court on Monday, accusing him of luring her to his hotel room in Cannes, France, on the promise of a movie role but instead he forced himself upon her sexually.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in New York, does not accuse Weinstein of labor trafficking or other exploitations commonly associated with the commercial sex industry. But the criminal law on which the civil claim in based bans the use of force, threat or coercion for a sex act in exchange for value.<\/span><\/p>\n

The alleged \u201cvalue\u201d in this case was the potential for a role in one of Weinstein\u2019s films, according to the complaint. Attorneys interviewed by Reuters called the lawsuit\u2019s application \u201cinnovative\u201d and said they would be watching closely, but expressed mixed views about whether the approach would work in federal court.<\/span><\/p>\n

Noble\u2019s lawsuit claimed Weinstein promised her a role in a Weinstein Company project and that he invited her to his hotel room in February 2014 in France on the premise of viewing her show reel, or video highlights of her acting.<\/span><\/p>\n

Responding to the lawsuit, Holly Baird, a spokeswoman for Weinstein, on Monday denied the allegation of non-consensual sex. Baird could not be reached on Tuesday for comment on the claim that Weinstein violated sex trafficking laws.<\/span><\/p>\n

Weinstein and his representatives have also denied the allegations of more than 50 women who have accused him of sexually harassing or assaulting them over the past three decades. Reuters has been unable to confirm the allegations. Noble\u2019s case adds another accuser to the list while also seeking to test the reach of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, a U.S. law that has been reauthorized or amended several times, expanding its extraterritorial reach.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kathleen Kim, a professor at the Loyola Law School in Las Angeles, called the lawsuit a \u201ca sound claim\u201d that was well-crafted.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe way that this complaint has been framed makes a sound allegation that the force, fraud or coercion for sex took place in exchange for value, which was the film role,\u201d Kim said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul Callan, a former prosecutor with the Brooklyn District Attorney\u2019s office and attorney at the Edelman & Edelman firm in New York, was more skeptical, doubting federal courts would accept Herman\u2019s theory of the law and calling it \u201can example of very creative lawyering.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a statute intended to punish those who participate in human sex trafficking,\u201d Callan said. \u201cWhat the lawyers here have done is they have cherry-picked phrases from that statute in an effort to prove that Harvey Weinstein\u2019s actions in allegedly sexually abusing the actress fits into that statute.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The plaintiff\u2019s lawyer, Jeffrey Herman, said he knew of only one other case that attempted to use the law in a similar way but it failed to prove the underlying allegations, meaning the expanded interpretation of the law went untested.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGiven there is no appellate decision, this would be precedent-making,\u201d Herman said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s a stretch at all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

SOURCE:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-people-harvey-weinstein\/weinstein-accuser-seeks-to-set-legal-precedent-with-sex-trafficking-law-idUSKBN1DT05I<\/span><\/p>\n

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