3 days Ago By BANG - Entertainment News
Harvey Weinstein is petitioning a New York court to move him from Rikers Island to Bellevue Hospital during his ongoing criminal retrial. The disgraced film producer is currently incarcerated on Rikers Island while facing retrial following the 2024 overturning of his 2020 rape conviction, and his legal team has now cited serious medical conditions and what they described as “deplorable” treatment behind bars in his bid for a transfer out of the facility. Weinstein’s lawyer, Imran H Ansari, said in a statement issued on Wednesday (16.
04.25): “Harvey Weinstein is suffering from cancer and other serious medical conditions, yet he is consistently mistreated for serious infections, medication is given incorrectly, or not at all, he is experiencing unhealthy and atypical weight gain, and he is forced to endure freezing temperatures while not even being provided clean clothing.” The attorney continued: “Because of this mistreatment, he has been worn down considerably health wise, and now faces the stress of trial in this condition, which may very well lead to serious health complications, even death.
“I have requested that at the very least he be housed at Bellevue Hospital during the pendency of the trial, yet have not received any response to this request from the attorneys for the city agencies. “As such, we have filed an emergency petition in court requesting that the court order that he be housed in Bellevue Hospital during the pendency of the criminal trial.” Weinstein, who was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer in 2024, has also been receiving treatment for a range of other conditions including leukemia, diabetes, coronary artery disease and sleep apnea.
In September last year, he underwent emergency heart surgery at Bellevue Hospital. Jury selection for his retrial began on Tuesday (15.04.
25) and resumed on Wednesday morning. By the end of the first day of proceedings, around 30 potential jurors remained in contention. Mr Ansari added in his statement: “Mr Weinstein has also filed a claim against the City of New York and its relevant agencies because the treatment he has received on Rikers Island has been horrific and he intends to aggressively pursue his lawsuit.
He has suffered considerably from deplorable conditions, and the system has failed him in providing him the most basic medical care, and deprived him of even the most elemental humane treatment.” In April 2024, the New York Court of Appeals vacated Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, ruling the inclusion of testimony from three women not involved in the charges prejudiced the jury. A retrial was ordered.
In a separate development, Weinstein was indicted in September on an additional charge of sexual assault. The allegation stems from an incident said to have occurred in a Manhattan hotel between 29 April and 6 May 2006. He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
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