Paul Thompson, a prosecutor in the Los Angeles County D.A.’s sex crimes unit, is leading the case against Harvey Weinstein, which got underway on Monday morning.
But Thompson was not initially assigned to the case. The case was originally given to Lowrie Mendoza, a deputy district attorney who has prosecuted sex crimes for the last 14 years.
More from Variety
She and her boss, Christina Buckley, were both removed from the case in 2019 out of concern that they had been told of a confidential email between Weinstein and his defense lawyer, according to court declarations reviewed by Variety. An LAPD detective, Javier Vargas, was also removed from the case because he read the attorney-client email, according to the declarations.
Removing them would eliminate the possibility that an appeals court would later overturn a conviction due to that issue.
“I think they’re being cautious to try to avoid anything that would screw up the case,” said Peter Joy, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. “I think it’s a smart move.”
Buckley is the head of the D.A.’s sex crimes unit and she also led the task force created by the D.A.’s office in November 2017 to pursue Hollywood sex crimes cases.
According to the declaration, Mendoza was assigned to the Weinstein case the same month as the LAPD began its investigation. The Beverly Hills Police Department joined the case six months later. In January 2019, a BHPD detective obtained 1.8 million emails from Lantern Entertainment — the company that acquired the Weinstein Co. assets — in response to a search warrant.
Mendoza and detectives from several agencies began to sift through the emails using keywords. At one point, the BPHD detective narrowed the trove to about 100,000 emails, which was shared on a thumb drive with others in the investigative team.
On July 9, 2019, Vargas informed Mendoza that one of the emails in the trove was sent by Weinstein’s attorney at the time, Blair Berk, to an attorney in Italy. Weinstein was copied on the email, which would be subject to attorney-client privilege.
“He included a brief description of the email during our phone conversation,” Mendoza wrote in her declaration. “I immediately told him to shut down the drive containing the emails and to stop reviewing further emails. At the conclusion of the phone call with Detective Vargas, I sent an email to the investigative team entitled ‘STOP READING THE WEINSTEIN EMAILS.’”
Mendoza then told Buckley, and together they decided that everyone should return the emails to the BHPD detective. They also began to consider whether to obtain a “special master” to review the emails and screen out any attorney-client communications.
In August 2019, Buckley and Mendoza met with Maria Ramirez, the head of the bureau, and Cynthia Nakao, the D.A.’s professional responsibility adviser. Buckley and Mendoza were told that they, as well as Vargas, would be moved off the case.
“Following the meeting, I received a phone call from Bureau Director Ramirez reiterating that the Weinstein matter would have to be transferred to another attorney and that I would have no further involvement with the case,” Buckley wrote in a declaration. “I informed her that DDA Paul Thompson would be my recommendation for reassignment of the case.”
Thompson was told the next day that he would be taking over the case, and that he would report directly to Ramirez, and could not discuss the case with Buckley.
The D.A.’s office declined to comment for this story. Mark Werksman, one of Weinstein’s defense lawyers, said the trove of emails was found to be contaminated, and the decision to wall off the prosecutors who had been exposed to it was an “appropriate protocol.”
According to the declarations, Lantern represented to the investigators that the emails did not contain attorney-client communications. Even so, Joy suggested that it might have been wise to let a “taint team” review the emails at the outset.
“When you’re dealing with any entity like the Weinstein Co., the chances of some of the material you’re getting your hands on including attorney-client privileged material is not that unusual,” he said. “A better move would have been to have a taint team in place from the beginning.”
Thompson is also handling the prosecution of Ron Jeremy, the adult film actor who is facing 34 counts of rape and sexual assault relating to 23 women.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
