Judge Refuses to Dismiss Rose McGowan's Drug Possession Charge

Although Rose McGowan and her legal team had previously requested that a judge to dismiss the actress' felony cocaine possession charge in Virginia, the motion has been refused

Although Rose McGowan and her legal team had previously requested that a judge to dismiss the actress’ felony cocaine possession charge in Virginia, the motion has been refused.

On Monday, Judge Deborah Welsh of Loudoun County General District Court declined to dismiss the drug possession charge after prosecutors claimed to have additional evidence to present that was not cited in McGowan’s charging documents, according to the Associated Press. The judge went on to say that it would be premature to dismiss the evidence ahead of McGowan’s preliminary trial, which is set for March 21.

The outlet also reported that following the hearing, special prosecutor Paul Ebert declined to comment further on what those additional charges might entail.

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McGowan, 44, was arrested in Nov. 2017 in relation to a warrant for felony possession of a controlled substance. Her arrest came after an airport employee allegedly found the actress’ wallet with two bags of white powder inside, which police say later tested positive for cocaine, on a United flight arriving at Washington Dulles International Airport earlier that year in January.

According to court papers filed in February, McGowan’s lawyer Jessica Carmichael had previously requested for the charge to be dismissed, arguing that five hours had passed between the time the Citizen Rose star was off the plane and her wallet was found by a cleaning crew, the Associated Press previously reported.

Carmichael also detailed the possibilities of the drugs being planted due to “the underhanded targeting of Ms. McGowan” by Harvey Weinstein, whom the Charmed alum continues to speak out against, having been one of the first women to detail his alleged decades of alleged sexual misconduct and assault in October of last year.

Courtesy Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office

McGowan was made aware that there was a warrant out for her arrest after she brought up the incident on social media in October. At the time, she claimed the warrant was part of a conspiracy to silence her.

“It is now public knowledge that Weinstein employed underhanded tactics to ‘silence’ his victims,” Carmichael argued according to the February court documents, citing reports that Weinstein hired intelligence agencies to spy on his accusers.

A spokesperson for Weinstein previously told PEOPLE in a statement, “Any allegations of non-consensual sex are unequivocally denied by Mr. Weinstein. Mr. Weinstein has further confirmed that there were never any acts of retaliation against any women for refusing his advances.”