A lawyer representing Italian mannequin Ambra Battilana Gutierrez — who filed a police report in 2015 in opposition to Harvey Weinstein for groping her in his Tribeca workplace and watched as her allegations have been rejected by the Manhattan DA’s workplace — requested federal prosecutors in Manhattan Tuesday to look into the “coverup” and is claiming high-powered New Yorkers intervened on behalf of the now-disgraced mogul.
Primarily based on the work of Michael Osgood, the NYPD chief who oversaw the detectives concerned within the investigation, lawyer Sarena Townsend argues the NYPD had the proof to bust Weinstein within the first 24 hours — till higher-ranking police officers and others stepped in.
“In order to justify dismissing her claims and to cater to Weinstein, law enforcement exaggerated irrelevant aspects of her life and ignored the actual evidence that had been assembled,” mentioned Townsend, a former prosecutor within the Brooklyn DA’s intercourse crimes bureau.
“That’s why a new investigation is necessary.”
Amongst others, Townsend’s 11-page letter to Appearing Manhattan U.S. Lawyer Jay Clayton alleges former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was representing Weinstein, used his affect with then-Police Commissioner Invoice Bratton and Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce to upend the case.
Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr.’s intercourse crime chief Martha Bashford first authorized an arrest of Weinstein, however then ordered detectives to again off hours later, the letter claims.
Whereas Gutierrez’s account of Weinstein grabbing her breasts and reaching underneath her skirt on a Tribeca “casting couch” have been beforehand reported, the backstory of why Weinstein was not arrested regardless of what seemed to be a strong case has remained largely unclear.
The occasions occurred greater than two years earlier than Weinstein’s position as a predator was uncovered by The New York Occasions and The New Yorker. A decade later, Osgood sees the case as a large missed alternative.
“This case was one of the best cases in terms of the quality of the investigation in the history of the NYPD. We basically had it wrapped up in the first 24 hours,” mentioned Osgood, who served as chief of Particular Victims from 2010 to 2018. “Instead, there was a coverup that caused extensive damage.”
Deputy Chief Michael Osgood, commanding officer of Particular Victims, addresses the citywide religion neighborhood on the first Human Justice Summit on the Bronx Christian Fellowship Church on Wednesday, January 11, 2017. (Jefferson Siegel / New York Each day Information)
“I lost years and years of my life because back in 2015, they didn’t believe me,” she mentioned. “I knew I was right, but my reputation got destroyed so much that it has been very difficult to rebuild.”
Clayton’s workplace declined to remark.
‘Overwhelming Evidence’
Gutierrez, then 22, went together with her modeling portfolio to Weinstein’s workplace on the Tribeca Movie Heart on March 27, 2015, at about 6 p.m., based on the account within the letter. On his sofa, he requested her if her breasts have been actual and grabbed them, the letter states. She instructed him to cease and eliminated his arms. Weinstein put his hand up her skirt to her thigh and requested her for a kiss. She eliminated his hand and refused the kiss.
Gutierrez then fled. The encounter lasted lower than quarter-hour.
She instantly instructed her supervisor and his girlfriend and the three of them went instantly to file a report on the ninth Precinct, stationhouse, the letter states.
In all, 5 cops and detectives over the following few hours heard Gutierrez’s account and witnessed her distressed demeanor, the letter states. At one level, the letter states, after she mentioned she was submitting a criticism about Weinstein, a feminine cop exclaimed, “Not him again.”
Osgood ordered his detectives to have Gutierrez name Weinstein on a recorded line and to arrange a recorded in-person assembly between the 2 — uncommon steps in a misdemeanor case, however he was involved about Weinstein’s public stature. On the decision, which befell about 11:30 p.m. that very same evening, Gutierrez requested Weinstein how her breasts felt, the letter states.
He mentioned they have been “fine,” the letter states.
Ambra Battilana Gutierrez speaks to the media exterior the courthouse after film mogul Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in jail on March 11, 2020 in New York Metropolis. (Picture by Roy Rochlin/Getty Photographs)
A managed assembly was set for the following day at 5:30 p.m. on the Tribeca Grand Resort. Osgood directed Lt. Austin Morange to name Bashford, the Manhattan DA’s intercourse crimes chief and temporary her, the letter states.
Gutierrez wore a wire and in addition recorded together with her cellphone, the letter states. She requested him why he touched her breasts.
“Please, I’m sorry, I’m used to it,” he replied. Later he mentioned, “I will not do another thing to you.”
Components of that recording have been printed two years in a while the New Yorker web site.
At 6:35 p.m., Morange and a sergeant instructed Weinstein to return with them to the ninth Precinct stationhouse to be interviewed, the letter states. Within the automotive, Weinstein declared he knew “powerful people in government,” and threatened to name Commissioner Bratton.
Inside simply 24 hours of the incident, Osgood’s detectives had Gutierrez’s account repeated a number of instances on the document, the 2 civilian witnesses to what she had instructed them, the accounts of the 5 cops, and video of her fleeing the preliminary encounter.
In addition they had Weinstein making incriminating statements on the recorded name and within the recorded assembly.
‘Do not arrest him!’
However then, as Townsend places it, “The case began to nosedive.”
Osgood had been attempting to achieve NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce for some 20 hours, the letter states. When Boyce referred to as that Saturday night, Boyce mentioned to not arrest Weinstein. Osgood instructed Boyce that Weinstein was already within the automotive on the best way to the ninth Precinct.
Boyce shouted, based on the letter, “F—! Interview him and then cut him loose. I have to call Bratton back.”
NYPD Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce on the month-to-month briefing on crime statistics and detective bureau case updates at police headquarters on Wednesday, September 2, 2015. (Jefferson Siegel/New York Each day Information)
On the precinct, Weinstein discovered his accuser’s title and instantly requested for a lawyer, ending the interview. Detectives then took Weinstein to his workplace. Within the automotive, the letter states, Weinstein continued to verbally berate the detectives.
Two days later, on March 30, Osgood’s detectives met with Bashford. Osgood says Bashford instructed them the proof “far exceeded the probable cause standard.” “I don’t see why you can’t make an arrest,” Bashford instructed them, based on the letter.
That very same morning, the letter states, Weinstein convened a gathering in his workplace which included Giuliani. The letter alleges Giuliani “covertly” referred to as Bratton that day and spoke with Boyce. In some unspecified time in the future after that, Osgood mentioned he spoke with Boyce, who questioned Gutierrez’s motivation.
Osgood says he didn’t study of this assembly or Giuliani’s name till March 2018, three years later, when a Weinstein aide was interviewed by detectives as a part of the second Weinstein investigation.
“[The aide] tells my guys in 2018 that Giuliani says, ‘All right, I’m going to call Bill Bratton now,’” Osgood mentioned in an interview.
Osgood says Boyce confirmed the Giuliani name in a dialog proper earlier than Boyce retired in April 2018. “Boyce says Bratton called me and told me to call Giuliani,” Osgood says. “But there’s never any need for a chief of detectives to call a defendant’s attorney. It’s unacceptable.”
Blasio, ex-NYPD head William Bratton
Susan Watts/New York Each day Information
Former Police Commissioner Invoice Bratton at NYPD headquarters in 2016. (Susan Watts/New York Each day Information)
Reached Monday, Boyce questioned Osgood’s recollection of occasions.
“It was clearly the Manhattan DA that didn’t want to go forward,” he mentioned. “I was asked to call Giuliani. I don’t remember by who. It was a brief call. I spoke to him for about two minutes, I asked for someone else, and I told that person the facts of the case and that we had probable cause to arrest. It was a good case.”
About 2 p.m., just some hours after Bashford endorsed the arrest, she referred to as Osgood’s deputy, Morange, and mentioned she had spoken with the “Eighth Floor” — the situation of Vance’s workplace — and to “hold off” on arresting Weinstein, the letter states.
Very quickly after that, a New York Submit article appeared with a blind legislation enforcement quote saying the case was “BS” and “not going anywhere.” A “source close to Weinstein” referred to as it “a blackmail attempt.” The story additionally reported with out context Gutierrez then 18, was at a celebration 5 years earlier in 2010 thrown by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that included escorts.
“In one day, Mr. Weinstein’s team was able to convince the DA to shut down Weinstein’s imminent arrest and completely tarnish Ms. Battilana-Gutierrez’s credibility,” Townsend writes within the letter.
Bashford, now the chair of the Protection Division’s Advisory Committee on Investigation, Prosecution and Protection of Sexual Assault, couldn’t be reached for remark.
However a former official with the DA’s workplace who requested anonymity questioned the concept she was pressured into the choice.
“This office was the first to indict Weinstein and the first to convict him,” the official mentioned. “There was certainly no pressure exerted on [Bashford] by any external force. She is a remarkably skilled attorney who came to a conclusion after extensive review of the case. We make decisions on a case-by-case basis, and sometimes people are upset, but the conclusion is always based on the merits.”
Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, blasted the accusations.
“It’s a disgrace that the names of some of the heroes of New York City such as Commissioner Bratton and Mayor Giuliani are being dragged through the mud in this frivolous letter,” he mentioned. “District Attorney Vance has a reputation that highlights his integrity and honesty. He eventually did bring charges against Harvey Weinstein on which Mr. Weinstein is now standing trial. That fact alone flies in the face of the contents of this ridiculous letter.”
Bratton and Giuliani additionally couldn’t be reached. Vance declined remark.
HATE CRIME
Luiz C. Ribeiro/for New York Each day Information
Cy Vance is pictured throughout a press convention at police headquarters on March 31, 2021. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Each day Information)
Because the investigation wore on, Osgood ordered Gutierrez positioned in a lodge not solely, he says, due to the paparazzi and recurring press leaks, but additionally as a result of he was involved about each Vance’s workplace and his NYPD superiors.
On April 2, Gutierrez was in a automotive with detectives when she discovered from her roommates there have been two DA investigators of their condo interrogating them. The questions included: was Gutierrez a stripper or a prostitute, did she carry house unusual males, the letter says.
Gutierrez started crying, and Osgood was irate when his detectives notified him.
“This is how I find out Bashford is doing a separate investigation, which is against protocol,” Osgood says. “The NYPD conducts the investigation as much as arraignment.
“But she wasn’t also doing a background investigation on Weinstein. If you did, you would trip over his history of being a predator.”
For its half, the DA’s workplace pushed again on the time, suggesting it was not notified of the managed name and different “proof issues.” Contacted for this story, the DA’s workplace declined remark.
The following day, April 3, Osgood took the bizarre step of bringing in an NYPD lawyer, Gregg Turkin, to assessment the power of the proof, the letter states. Turkin agreed there was greater than possible trigger to arrest Weinstein, Osgood says.
Ambra Battilana Gutierrez attends the crimson carpet occasion for “She Said” through the sixtieth New York Movie Competition at Alice Tully Corridor, Lincoln Heart on October 13, 2022 in New York Metropolis. (Picture by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Photographs for FLC)
On April 3 and once more on April 7, Bashford interviewed Gutierrez. Within the latter interview, Bashford requested pointed questions on a so-called “bunga bunga” celebration and a couple of lawsuit the mannequin filed in Italy — none of which, Townsend writes, “actually created doubt about her credibility or her account.”
However on April 10, a Friday, Bashford referred to as Morange and instructed him the DA was declining to cost Weinstein and that she agreed with the choice. The decision took a couple of seconds, Osgood says.
Gutierrez solely discovered of the choice from the media on the next Monday.
She was quickly approached by Weinstein’s legal professionals providing a settlement if she signed a nondisclosure settlement. She mentioned she solely agreed to signal it after she’d discovered the DA wouldn’t be going ahead with the case and he or she was frightened of what would possibly occur if she refused.
On April 20, 2015, she signed the NDA and accepted a $1 million cost.
Endgame
In October 2017, the primary blockbuster tales about Weinstein’s serial sexual predation appeared, forcing prosecutors to open new investigations in a number of jurisdictions.
In New York, the investigation resulted in Weinstein’s arrest in Could 2018. Osgood says he was so involved a couple of repeat of 2015 that he requested the NYPD Authorized Bureau to petition for the appointment of a particular prosecutor as an alternative of Vance’s workplace.
Weinstein was convicted within the New York case in 2020. However an appellate panel overturned the conviction in 2024 resulting in a retrial presently underway in Manhattan.
Harvey Weinstein leaves the NYPD’s 1st Precinct stationhouse in handcuffs as he heads to courtroom to face sexual assault costs in Manhattan on Friday, Could 25, 2018. (Theodore Parisienne for New York Each day Information)
The conviction was overturned as a result of Vance introduced testimony from victims uninvolved within the particular costs the mogul was dealing with.
By means of the interval, there was strain for an accounting of what occurred within the Gutierrez case. In 2018, then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, now working for New York Metropolis mayor, ordered an investigation, however eight months later, after Weinstein was charged, he “temporarily postponed” the probe, the letter states.
In 2021, based on Osgood, a second probe underneath Cuomo was initiated by Lawyer Normal Letitia James, however that too seems to have been prematurely discontinued after Cuomo resigned and Gov. Hochul took over that September.
Neither James nor Hochul responded to requests for remark.
Harvey Weinstein seems at his arraignment in Manhattan Felony Courtroom on Friday, Could 25, 2018. (Jefferson Siegel/New York Each day Information)
Osgood was reassigned to Staten Island in November 2018 and shortly retired. In 2021, he sued the NYPD claiming he was compelled out as retaliation for refusing to observe orders to stonewall a broader probe of SVU. The case was settled in 2023 for $850,000.
In November 2022, Gutierrez testified as a witness in opposition to Weinstein throughout his trial in Los Angeles.
Osgood was within the gallery watching the case he oversaw lastly being introduced in open courtroom.
“I flew out to L.A. to support her and let her know there are honest people in the NYPD,” Osgood mentioned.
“Watching my evidence being presented was stunning.”
Initially Printed: April 29, 2025 at 7:00 PM EDT
