Harvey Weinstein Leaves Prison For Emergency

The statement confirmed that Harvey Weinstein had a procedure involving his heart but declined further comment. Representatives Craig Rothfeld and Juda Engelmayer used the statement to reiterate previous statements alleging that the former movie mogul suffers from a “plethora of significant health issues,” most requiring “ongoing treatment.” The pair finished by thanking the New York City Department of Correction and Rikers Island for getting Weinstein to Bellevue “swiftly.”

Harvey Weinstein’s medical emergency came at an opportune time. The 72-year-old was scheduled to appear in court this week, where New York City prosecutors are busy presenting evidence to a grand jury in hopes of securing a new sex crimes indictment against him. Weinstein has, of course, denied any wrongdoing and has claimed all of his intimate encounters happened consensually.

The New York Court of Appeals overturned Harvey Weinstein’s previous sex crimes conviction last April, sparking public outrage. The court made the much-maligned decision after finding that the trial judge “erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes.” In other words, Weinstein’s encounters with women other than the three directly involved in the trial were brought up during the proceedings.

The court claimed the testimony served no purpose in the trial and portrayed Harvey Weinstein in a negative light. Meanwhile, the Manhattan district attorney’s office has come up with new evidence that it thinks could result in a new indictment against Weinstein. This evidence relates to an alleged instance of sexual assault perpetrated by the former producer during a four-month window from late 2005 to mid-2006.

Furthermore, during a Sept. 3 hearing prosecutors alluded to the fact that they know of at least two other potential crimes committed by Harvey Weinstein. First is a sexual assault that occurred in May of 2016 at a Tribeca hotel. The second potential incident is a sexual assault that happened at the Tribeca Grand Hotel.

Once Harvey Weinstein’s New York cases are finished, he will be transferred to California to serve a 16-year sentence for a different conviction. That conviction stemmed from a 2022 Los Angeles trial that occurred while Weinstein was in the process of serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York. As mentioned above, that 23-year prison sentence was the result of a 2020 Manhattan conviction that was recently thrown out.

Harvey Weinstein co-founded of Miramax and The Weinstein Company and, at one time, was considered one of the most powerful people in Hollywood. That changed in 2017 with the #MeToo movement. Vague accusations of sexual assault had followed Weinstein around Hollywood for most of his career, but #MeToo gave many of his alleged victims the courage to call out his specific misdeeds.

This wasn’t Harvey Weinstein’s first trip to Bellevue Hospital this year. Weinstein was hospitalized in July after contracting COVID-19 and pneumonia in both his lungs. There is no word on how long Weinstein is expected to spend at Bellevue or when he might return to his Rikers Island prison cell.

source: ABC News