Judge blocks Weinstein lawyers' subpoenas for emails, texts and communications from multiple witnesses

A Los Angeles judge ruled Monday to limit the amount of information that Harvey Weinstein's defense team can obtain for his upcoming trial on 11 counts of rape and sexual assault.< /p>

Judge Lisa B. Lench granted the prosecution's motion to quash four witnesses' subpoenas for their correspondence, including personal emails and text messages dating as far back as 2004, with one of the alleged victims (referred to as Jane Doe #4). However, the judge said she would not prevent the defense from serving future subpoenas on victims and would not require them to notify the prosecution in advance of attempted service.

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"As I read the subpoenas, they are too broad and they ask for confidential information between these parties," Lench said, referring to the witness's right to privacy.

She also rescinded subpoenas to the Los Angeles Police Department and the Beverly Hills Police Department for the results of the investigation, as well as the mental health records of a witness, which the judge has considered privileged communication.

Weinstein, dressed in a blue face mask and brown prison jumpsuit, held a book about Hollywood in his hand as he was led into court by deputies on Monday morning.

Paul Thompson, the lead prosecutor, argued that subpoenas could "have a chilling effect on people who come forward" and "tend to harass witnesses".

In his ruling, Lench said, "If any activity on someone's part appears to be harassment, I will come back to it later."

Weinstein's attorney, Alan Jackson, spent most of the preliminary hearing debating the rights covered by Marsy's Law, also known as the California Victims' Bill of Rights. He argued that the prosecution was misinterpreting the law and not allowing witnesses to simply deny the prosecution's request for non-privileged documents.

“We ask for relevant and salient non-confidential communications,” he said. "Marsy's law does not give them the right of defense to judge their case in the dark."

Jackson argued that even correspondence that did not mention Weinstein was relevant to the case.

“If the witness had a communication and no mention was made of Weinstein, the negative information is also relevant,” he said.

"If a rape victim is raped and hasn't told her friends about it, do you think that's exculpatory?" Lench replied.

Another hearing is scheduled for Friday. Weinstein will go on trial on October 10. This should take six to eight weeks, so until November.

The disgraced producer, 70, is already serving a 23-year sentence for sex crimes in New York. He has been detained for more than a year in the medical unit of the Twin Towers correctional facility in downtown Los Angeles, pending his second trial.

Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to the charges, which relate to five victims and span from 2004 to 2013.

On May 11, Lench authorized prosecutors to call five additional women to testify about their own charges against Weinstein. These witnesses to "prior wrongdoing" can be used to show a pattern of criminal conduct, even if the acts themselves are not part of the offenses charged.

Prosecutors had wanted to call 15 witnesses to testify about the producer's "prior wrongdoing", but the judge ruled out 10, including actresses Rose McGowan and Daryl Hannah. The prosecution argues that the witnesses show Weinstein's propensity to commit sex crimes, while the defense argues that the witnesses will smear his reputation and damage the jury.

A New York appeals court upheld Weinstein's rape and sexual assault conviction in June. Weinstein will be eligible for parole for the New York case in 2039.

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