Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer groused to a judge that Manhattan prosecutors are delaying bringing new charges against the fallen movie mogul as his health declines in jail.
Weinstein, 72, sitting in a wheelchair, was pushed into the courtroom by a court officer Tuesday morning. A ghostly pale and clean-shaven Weinstein was wearing a dark suit, white shirt and a dark blue tie.
Prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said while they don’t have new charges yet to bring against the former Miramax honcho, they are still planning to retry him in the fall.
“As we said in 2020, there were women who were not ready to proceed with the legal process,” Blumberg explained. “Some of those women are now ready to proceed.”
She added that they plan to go back to a grand jury seeking additional charges.
“It’s an ongoing process,” the prosecutor added.
But Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, complained that his client has been behind bars for nearly five years as he accused prosecutors of using “delay tactics.”
Aidala listed a slew of health problems that Weinstein has and that he says are only getting worse while he’s locked up.
According to doctors, Weinstein has fluid in his heart, spinal stenosis and macular degeneration in his eyes.
“His diabetes is going through the roof because the diet they give at Rikers Island is 90% sugar,” Aidala said. “He’s basically getting no treatment for that.”
Weinstein is unfairly being held in solitary confinement, Aidala added.
“There is a lot of light at the end of the tunnel for Mr. Weinstein. He’s a not a young man, he’s a sick man. He has young kids and wants to get out,” the defense attorney said. “All I’m asking for is time. We need to get the ball rolling.”
Blumberg later responded that “there’s certainly no delay tactics” by prosecutors in the case.
Weinstein had been scheduled to go back on trial for the second time after Labor Day following a bombshell ruling from New York’s highest court overturning his conviction and 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault.
But Blumberg said Tuesday that her office could be ready for trial in November, prompting a scoff from the defense table and spurring Weinstein to shake his head back and forth.
