NCS’s Elie Honig warned prosecutors not to step on a landmine that would blow up the potential case in opposition to Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) in New York City.
Anchor John Berman kicked off the phase by making observe of the a number of allegations of sexual misconduct in opposition to Swalwell, who has suspended his gubernatorial marketing campaign in California, in addition to the congressman’s denial of them.
Berman then proceeded to ask concerning the Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace’s decision to launch an investigation into one of many accusations, which is alleged to have taken place in its jurisdiction.
“Talk to me about the Manhattan D.A.’s move here. What will they be investigating? How will it work? Why did they jump in?” requested Berman.
“So John, a case like this is likely to come down to the single issue of consent. Was this sexual contact consensual or non-consensual? Now, the first thing prosecutors will do naturally is speak to the complainant, the woman. Get her full statement, get as much detail as they can. Prosecutors also will likely reach out to the accused, Eric Swalwell here. You have to go through his defense lawyer. He’ll have the opportunity to speak to prosecutors, although of course he does not have to do that,” replied Honig. “Then you’re in the position of looking for what we call corroboration. You want to look at all the other evidence. So, for example, what were this woman’s statements to others at or around the time? According to the reporting, there is evidence that this woman told friends and family members that she had had this contact with Representative Swalwell and that it was non-consensual. You wanna look at the conversations at and after the fact between the complainant and the accused. You wanna look and see if there’s any medical records. The reporting here is that the woman had pregnancy and STD testing. So that’s something short of a full medical workup. And then John, the key thing to keep in mind is for prosecutors, the question is not who is more believable or which side is more likely. Prosecutors, remember, have to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. So that a very high burden that prosecutors will bear.”
“And again, we said there were four women who came forward, including this one here in New York City. What will happen with other potential individuals?” adopted up Berman.
That’s when Honig issued his warning.
“So the allegedly criminal conduct that the D.A. is investigating relates to one of the four women, but prosecutors likely will want to speak to the other three women who had other sorts of unwanted advances, photos, and texts, and exposure from Eric Swalwell,” replied the previous federal prosecutor. “Now, prosecutors have to be careful here though because you might be able to offer that evidence if this case ever went to trial as a prosecutor by saying, ‘Well, it establishes a pattern.’ However, judges and prosecutors can get in trouble if you bring in too much of this what we call ‘other bad acts’ evidence. For example, Harvey Weinstein had one of his convictions thrown out because prosecutors introduced and judges admitted too much that other bad acts evidence. So I think if you’re a prosecutor you do want to speak to these three other women, but I think you want to be careful with how you use that evidence.”
Watch above by way of NCS.
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