Rose McGowan may be fighting for victims’ rights, but a Virginia judge ruled her own alleged crime is not above the law.
A judge declined a motion on Monday to dismiss a charge of cocaine possession against the actress, the Associated Press reports.
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McGowan was charged after authorities said the drug was found in a wallet she left behind on a United flight to Dulles International Airport in January 2017.
The actress’ lawyers sought to have the case dismissed after they argued that the drugs may have been planted by agents hired by disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein in an attempt to discredit her claims of sexual assault against him.
Lawyer Jessica Carmichael argued in court papers that five hours passed between the time McGowan got off the plane and her wallet was found by a cleaning crew.
“There is simply no point in time at which the evidence places Ms. McGowan and the cocaine together in the same place,” Carmichael wrote.
She 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 misconduct.
At a hearing on Monday in Leesburg, Virginia, to address McGowan’s motion to dismiss, Chief General District Court Judge Deborah Welsh denied the motion, but said the issues presented by the defense could be addressed at an appointment on March 21. Welsh said live testimony could be presented at that time.
Aside from her longtime career in acting, McGowan has made a name for herself as one of the driving forces behind the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements. She has been an outspoken victim of Hollywood heavyweight Weinstein’s alleged rape, which she detailed in an appearance on Good Morning America in February.
“Everybody knew,” McGowan said of Weinstein’s predatory ways while promoting her memoir, Brave. She claimed that the producer raped her at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, but theorizes she is only a fraction of the total victims at his hands.
“I would probably estimate there’s got to be over a thousand [victims], maybe 2,000 because this is a lifelong career of rape for this man,” the 44-year-old said.
“The machinery was set up in every country he would go to for the handlers to hand him the victims, starting with the agents and managers,” McGowan said.
Despite her adamant and vocal claims against him, as well as the $100,000 settlement she received shortly after the alleged assault, Weinstein denies having any non-consensual contact with McGowan.
“Mr. Weinstein denies Ms. McGowan’s allegations of non-consensual sexual contact,” Weinstein’s rep said in a statement. “Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.”
