Dennis RomeroYou might say that Judd Weiss, a self-described commercial real estate investor and sometime photographer of nude women, has lived the good life.
See also: Judd Weiss, Bel Air Party Boy, Arrested for Alleged Sex Assault, Took Sexy Photos.
The playboy is known for hosting parties at his Bel-Air residence, where, if photographic evidence is to be believed, the eye candy is sweet. But the 32-year-old, once riding high, says accusations of rape last year “just destroyed me.” Now, he says, he has been vindicated:
In May 2012, the Los Angeles Police Department issued a press release announcing that Weiss had been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.
Not only that but cops were asking …
… for public's help in locating additional women who may have been victims of Judd Weiss …
Weiss says he was so hurt by the suggestion that he was a serial sex criminal that he posted the call for witnesses on his own Facebook page:
They blasted my mugshot searching for other victims. That broke me. That just killed me.
Weiss reached out to L.A. Weekly after we published a story based on LAPD's allegations. He said that he was innocent. And he predicted that he would beat the rap.
On Tuesday he claimed victory via his Facebook page, stating:
The District Attorney has just dismissed the rape charges against me. After a year and a half of total horror over a crime I never committed, I'm finally an innocent free man.
The story's a little more involved than that. A March trial on charges of rape and sexual penetration by a foreign object ended in a hung jury. The DA's office decided to retry.
Just days before the second trial was scheduled to begin, Weiss' attorney and prosecutors came to a deal: Weiss would plead no contest to two counts, one a felony and one a misdemeanor, of false imprisonment, DA spokeswoman Jean Guccione told us.
And Weiss ultimately would avoid the possibilities of another trial, time behind bars, felonies on his record and having to register as a sex offender. Guccione:
Credit: Judd Weiss, top right, via juddweiss.com.
He was sentenced on the misdemeanor to three years' summary probation and psychological counseling.
The felony will be dismissed if he has complied with all terms and conditions of probation in 18 months.
Guccione wouldn't argue details, saying only that prosecutors believed they had a strong enough case to go forward with trial No. 2: “We were prepared to retry the case.”
We tried to track down contact information for the alleged victim but were unsuccessful.
Weiss says he agreed to the deal only because the felony false imprisonment charge would ultimately go away, and because the sex crime charges would vanish. And, he said, he had exhausted his resources paying attorneys' fees.
He says he met the alleged victim, who describes herself as an actress and student, at his birthday party in the spring summer of 2011. He says she pursued him via Facebook.
He eventually went out with her once the next spring, going to a restaurant, then taking her home, where the two made out and, yes, he says, he used his fingers.
There was no coital or oral sex, Weiss indicated.
He claims the woman texted his friends from dinner the previous night to say it was nice to meet them. When cops came calling to arrest him, “That shocked me,” he says.
Weiss says he had to gather $10,000 to cover 10 percent of bail. And then he had to fight the case.
His theory: After that fateful date night, he says, he told the victim he wasn't interested in seeing her anymore. She was scorned, Weiss claims, after having been obsessed with him on Facebook.
Exacerbating his situation, he says, was a justice system entrenched in a win-loss battle that sometimes has little to do with truth and justice: The District Attorney's office picks cases it can win, and when it loses it's embarrassing. And there's some truth to that.
Same goes for LAPD, he said: Once the department decides you're guilty, it goes all out.
Then again, unlike much of L.A.'s population, Weiss could afford to fight. He says this:
I'm desperate to clear my name now. Girls who claim false rape are doing a major disservice to women's ability to file legit claims against people.
It brings so much damage on the guys who have to suffer this.
Send feedback and tips to the author. Follow Dennis Romero on Twitter at @dennisjromero. Follow LA Weekly News on Twitter at @laweeklynews.
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