Drug Charges Dropped in Philip Seymour Hoffman Case
The Manhattan district attorney has dropped drug-selling charges against a jazz musician and friend of late film star Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died of an accidental drug overdose in February, the New York Times newspaper reported.
Montreal-born Robert Aaron Vineberg, 58, was arrested after police traced what they believed to have been the source of the heroin suspected of killing the Oscar-winning actor. Vineberg was charged with intent to sell heroin.
The charges were dropped on Thursday because of “evidentiary issues that have come to light”, the Times quoted assistant district attorney Jon Veiga as saying.
The district attorney said in an Aug. 14 letter that two police officers who first interrogated Vineberg after his arrest had not read him his Miranda rights – which include the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney – , rendering his statements to them unusable in court, the newspaper said.
Vineberg pleaded guilty on Thursday to possession of heroin, a lesser felony. He agreed to serve five years’ probation, perform community service, continue drug addiction treatment and to forfeit money confiscated during his arrest, the New York Times reported.
Hoffman, who won a Best Actor Oscar in 2005 for his role as Truman Capote in “Capote”, was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of his Manhattan apartment by police responding to an emergency 911 call.
The cause of death was acute drug intoxication, including heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines and amphetamine, the New York City Chief Medical Examiner found.
Vineberg painted himself a scapegoat who people blamed because of his connection to Hoffman and denied ever selling the actor drugs.
“At some level, it’s like the Salem witch trials,” Vineberg told the Times this year. “You can’t have a witch hunt without a witch. I’m just unlucky enough to be the guy.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!