Rose McGowan Indicted By Grand Jury On One Count Of Felony Possession Of Cocaine

A Virginia grand jury has brought felony charges against Rose McGowan for cocaine possession. It’s a legal issue that the former Charmed actress has had hanging over her head since January of 2017 according to the New York Daily News. The 44-year-old claims that she has been set up by disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and that the cocaine was planted in her wallet.

In January 2017, McGowan reported her wallet missing following a flight to Dulles Airport in Virginia. The crew who cleaned the United Airlines plane following her flight found her wallet. Inside it were two small bags that tested positive for cocaine. She claims that she received a message on Instagram a few days later about her wallet and the cocaine. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Rebecca Thacher is one of the prosecutors. Regarding Rose and her notification about her found wallet, Thacher said, “We charged the owner of the wallet. She admitted she lost her wallet. When she was told it was at the police station, she all of a sudden didn’t want to pick it up,” according to the Leesburg, Virginia newspaper, the Leesburg Patch. One of McGowan’s attorneys has noted that many people had access to his client’s wallet for several hours, saying, “Depending on when and where the wallet was lost, individuals other than Ms. McGowan had access to the wallet for somewhere between approximately 5 hours 40 minutes and more than 11 hours.” Her legal team has stated that there’s no evidence indicating Rose was aware of the cocaine in her wallet.

Rose McGowan Indicted on Felony Count of Cocaine Possession https://t.co/BiCTvNCF16

— People (@people) June 12, 2018

The actress’ claims that she is being framed by Harvey Weinstein date back to October, soon after news of a warrant being issued for her arrest broke. She reacted quickly with a tweet in which she charged that “they” were trying to get her to keep quiet about claims she had made about Weinstein’s sexual misconduct with her. His attorneys have denied the charges. Ben Brafman, part of his legal team, made this statement.

“The detectives who investigated the drug charges against McGowan have categorically rejected her ludicrous claim that Mr. Weinstein planted the drugs in her wallet. Falsely accusing Mr. Weinstein of committing a crime is something McGowan has in our opinion done before and people must take note of her indictment and more importantly, her cavalier habit of falsely accusing Mr. Weinstein of criminal conduct he vigorously denies.”

Weinstein claims that all sexual encounters he had with Rose were completely consensual. Her attorneys filed for a dismissal of charges, but their request was denied. Her trial date is expected to be scheduled Tuesday at the courthouse in Loudoun County, Virginia.