Weinstein ‘monitored closely’ in hospital
Former mogul was on his way to jail after verdict
Two days after his conviction on third-degree rape and criminal sexual act in the first degree, Harvey Weinstein remained in New York City’s Bellevue Hospital.
“The Department of Corrections chooses where to place him,” explained Weinstein’s rep Juda Engelmayer in an email to USA TODAY. “He’s on 10 medications, had back surgery, is certified disabled by doctors and therefore he will be monitored closely regardless of facility.”
Weinstein was transported to the hospital while en route to Rikers Island, the city’s prison complex, due to high blood pressure, one of his lawyers, Donna Routunno, said after Monday’s verdict, during which Weinstein was found guilty of sex crimes against Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi and Jessica Mann.
Engelmayer explained: “He needs to have proper medical attention given his condition. He would receive the same medical attention and care at Rikers.”
The 67-year-old, once a power player in Hollywood, was found not guilty of three more serious charges, including those that would have labeled him a sexual predator and carried a possible life sentence.
Still, he is facing five to 25 years in prison, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said following the verdict.
Weinstein will be sentenced on March 11, and he will be confronted by at least one of his accusers.
Haleyi, who testified at the weekslong trial that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006, told “Good Morning America” she intends to give a statement and address Weinstein at his sentencing, though she is not yet sure what she will say: “I’ll figure it out.”
“He needs to have proper medical attention given his condition. He would receive the same medical attention and care at Rikers.” Juda Engelmayer, Weinstein’s rep
She was in a coffee shop when she learned of the verdict.
“I just sat down, and I started crying, and I had to go out into the street because I didn’t want to be crying in a coffee shop,” she said. “It was just a huge sense of relief – relief that the jury got it; that they believed me and that I was heard.”
And Weinstein will still have to face more accusers in the coming months.
He faces multiple civil suits from dozens of accusers; a proposed settlement in the civil cases is on hold and at least some of the plaintiffs have rejected it as not good enough in terms of either money or punishment.
“Weinstein may have been able to avoid testifying in the criminal trial, but he will not be afforded that right in his civil trials,” said Douglas Wigdor, an attorney for civil plaintiffs who have rejected the proposed settlement. “I relish the day when I get to cross-examine him and ask him to answer for the wrongs he has committed against so many women.”
Weinstein’s Los Angeles case is pending
Meanwhile, the same day his New York trial began jury selection, Weinstein was charged in Los Angeles with four sex crimes that involved raping one woman and sexually assaulting another in separate incidents over two days in 2013.
The charges are one felony count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint.
The latter charge involves Lauren Young, who testified in New York as a “prior bad acts” witness. (Her testimony was permitted at trial as a means to bolster the prosecution’s case but he was not charged with committing a crime against Young in New York.) In Los Angeles, she will be a complaining witness.
“I want to say there is still time for more victims to come forward and testify potentially in LA because it’s not over till it’s over, and it’s not over yet,” her attorney Gloria Allred said on “Good Morning America.”
The other complaining witness in Los Angeles is an Italian model whose name has not been disclosed.
The Los Angeles case is on hold; Weinstein has not yet been arraigned. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the timeline for Weinstein’s arraignment there.