NEW YORK (AP) — Harvey Weinstein has been moved to a New York City hospital after a judge approved the ailing ex-studio boss’s request to stay there rather than in jail when he’s not in court for his #MeToo retrial.
Judge Paul Goetz late Thursday ordered that Weinstein be immediately relocated from the city’s notorious Rikers Island jail complex to the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan so he can receive necessary medical treatment.
Weinstein’s lawyers lobbied for the move as jury selection got underway this week.
They argued in court papers that being locked up in a sometimes freezing jail cell was exacerbating the Oscar-winning producer's health issues, which include chronic myeloid leukemia, diabetes and walking difficulties that require a wheelchair to get in and out of court.
Goetz’s order will remain in effect at least until next Thursday, when he is set to hold a hearing to discuss the matter further.
A different judge, Curtis Farber, is presiding over Weinstein's retrial. The case will resume Monday with more jury selection after nine jurors were picked this week. In all, 12 jurors and six alternates need to be seated.
Weinstein is being tried again on rape and sexual assault charges after New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, last year overturned his 2020 conviction and 23-year prison sentence and ordered a new trial, finding that improper rulings and prejudicial testimony tainted the original one.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty and denies raping or sexually assaulting anyone.
Weinstein has been back and forth numerous times to Bellevue in recent months for treatment of various maladies. At a pretrial hearing in January, he railed against his treatment at Rikers, telling Farber he wanted to “get out of this hellhole as quickly as possible.”
Weinstein's lawyers filed a legal claim against New York City last November, alleging he was receiving substandard medical treatment in unhygienic conditions at Rikers. The claim, which seeks $5 million in damages, argues that Weinstein has been returned to Rikers each time before fully recovering at the hospital.
The troubled jail complex has faced growing scrutiny for its mistreatment of detainees and dangerous conditions. Last year, a federal judge cleared the way for a possible federal takeover, finding the city had placed inmates in “unconstitutional danger.”
Michael R. Sisak, The Associated Press
