Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said the former film producer was taken to hospital after being transferred to a New York prison.
It comes days after the movie mogul A 2020 rape conviction has been overturned, with a New York court ordering a new trial in the landmark “MeToo” case.
Arthur Aidala, Weinstein’s lawyer, said his client was transferred to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for examinations upon his arrival on Friday at the city’s prison system.
“They examined him and sent him to Bellevue. It looks like he needs a lot of help, physically. .
The hospital did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Weinstein, 72, has been in prison since 2020 and, on Thursday, the New York Court of Appeals overturned his 2020 rape conviction.
The state’s highest court concluded that the trial judge prejudiced Weinstein with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to allow women to testify about allegations that were not part of the case.
He remains in prison despite the recent decision because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 for another rape. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison for this crime.
Aidala, Weinstein’s lawyer, said he is still mentally “perforated” and that his health problems are physical.
For some time, Weinstein has had heart problems, diabetes, sleep apnea and eye problems.
He was transferred to the Mohawk Correctional Center’s Rikers Island prison complex, where he has been since 2023.
“He was not treated well. They refused to give him even a drink of water, no food, no bathroom breaks,” Aidala said.
“He is a sickly 72-year-old man.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision said Weinstein was turned over to the city Department of Corrections in accordance with the appeal ruling.
Weinstein is serving a 23-year sentence in a New York prison after being accused of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 and raping former aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013, following the historic 2020 trial.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg – who is already involved in a secret trial against former President Donald Trump – will now decide whether Weinstein will receive a new trial.
A spokesperson for Bragg said in an email: “We will do everything in our power to retry this case and will remain steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault.”
Deborah Tuerkheimer, a professor at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law and a former assistant district attorney in Manhattan, said whether a second trial would “depend on the preferences of the women who would have to testify again and endure the ordeal of a new trial.” “
“I think ultimately it will come down to whether they feel like it’s something they want to do and are capable of doing,” she said.
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