Officials: NYC detective in Weinstein case told victim to delete messages

Oct. 18 (UPI) -- A New York City police detective investigating Harvey Weinstein on sexual misconduct charges told one victim to delete messages from her phone before turning it over to prosecutors, officials said.

NYPD Det. Nicholas DiGaudio is accused of telling the woman to "delete anything she did not want anyone to see," after she expressed concern about turning over her phone to prosecutors because it contained personal information, WNBC-TV reported.

The Manhattan district attorney's office informed Weinstein attorney Benjamin Brafman in a letter Tuesday of the incident, adding that the accuser ultimately ignored the advice and turned over the phone with all the messages intact.

The accuser, identified in court filings as "Complainant 2," is connected with three counts in the case against the former Hollywood producer in New York City.

"This new development even further undermines the integrity of an already deeply flawed indictment of Mr. Weinstein," Brafman said in a statement Wednesday.

Detectives' Endowment Association President Michael Palladino, though, issued a statement supporting DiGaudio.

"This is the age of technology. People keep loads of personal info on their phones that they prefer remains confidential," Palladino said. "A woman should not have to surrender confidential intimate information that's immaterial to the case to defend herself against a sexual predator. That's being victimized twice. Detective DiGaudio was sensitive to that."

Weinstein was charged in May with first and third-degree rape, and first-degree criminal sexual act for acts against two women in 2013 and 2004, respectively.

In July, three new charges were added from a third accuser. Prosecutors, though, dropped part of the case against Weinstein after they said evidence came to light that the same detective had coached a witness to stay silent about evidence that cast doubt on the account one of Weinstein's three accusers.

Sexual misconduct accusations against Weinstein were first reported in New York media a year ago and sparked the #MeToo movement.