McLEAN, Va. (AP) – Lawyers for actress Rose McGowan say a drug possession charge against her in Virginia should be tossed out of court, in part because she has been a victim of “the Harvey Weinstein machine.”
McGowan faces a preliminary hearing next month in Leesburg after authorities say cocaine was found in a wallet she left behind on a United flight at Dulles International Airport in January 2017.
In court papers filed Tuesday, lawyer Jessica Carmichael says five hours passed between the time McGowan got off the plane and her wallet was found by a cleaning crew.
FILE- In this Oct. 27, 2017, file photo, actress Rose McGowan speaks at the inaugural Women’s Convention in Detroit. McGowan’s lawyers said Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018, that a drug possession charge against her in Virginia should be tossed out of court, in part because she has been a victim of “the Harvey Weinstein machine.” (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
“There is simply no point in time at which the evidence places Ms. McGowan and the cocaine together in the same place,” Carmichael wrote.
Carmichael argued the drugs may well have been planted, citing “the underhanded targeting of Ms. McGowan” by Weinstein.
“It is now public knowledge that Weinstein employed underhanded tactics to ‘silence’ his victims,” she wrote, citing reports that Weinstein hired private investigators to trail women who had accused him of mistreatment.
McGowan was one of the first actresses to accuse the now-disgraced producer of sexual abuse.
A spokeswoman for Weinstein did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday night.
The motion also seeks dismissal on the technical grounds that drug crimes taking place on an airplane in interstate commerce should be handled in federal court, not state court.
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