Weinstein is going blind and losing teeth in jail, court told
HARVEY WEINSTEIN is going blind and losing his teeth in prison, his lawyer claimed yesterday, as the former film producer appeared in a New York court by video to fight extradition to Los Angeles on new sex assault charges.
Weinstein, 69, appeared from a medical unit of Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo, where his lawyers claimed he was too unwell to be transferred across the country.
They disclosed that Weinstein had been indicted over the weekend on the 11 counts in a criminal case involving alleged attacks on five women from 2004 to 2013 in the LA area.
It includes four counts of forcible rape, four counts of forcible oral copulation, two counts of sexual battery by restraint, and one count of sexual penetration by use of force.
One victim alleges Weinstein lured her into his room after a meeting at a hotel in Beverly Hills in 2013, where the mogul allegedly grabbed her breast and masturbated before she fled. He has denied the charges.
The grand jury indictment is understood to be a procedural move, meant to streamline proceedings and enable the case to go straight to trial in LA, which is experiencing a severe Covid backlog.
“These are stale, unsubstantiated, uncorroborated, uncredible allegations that arose during the hysteria of the Metoo movement and we’re confident that Mr Weinstein will be acquitted because there’s no credible evidence against him. He’s innocent,” Norman Effman, one of Weinstein’s attorneys said regarding the charges.
The Oscar-winning producer was seen on camera sitting in a stark conference room at the maximum security facility. Mr Effman told Judge Kenneth Case at Erie County Court the producer
‘We’re not trying to avoid what is going to happen in California. Mr Weinstein isn’t going anywhere’
was suffering from diabetes, cardiac problems, and back, eye, and dental issues. He claimed Weinstein was virtually blind and awaiting surgery.
“We’re not trying to avoid what is going to happen in California,” he said. “Mr Weinstein isn’t going anywhere.”
Weinstein has been appealing the 23-year prison sentence he is serving for sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping former aspiring actress Jessica Mann.
The next hearing on the extradition order will take place on April 30.