Harvey Weinstein can stay in hospital during #MeToo retrial, judge rules
By MICHAEL R SISAK Associated Press 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 promptly relocated from the city s notorious Rikers Island jail complex to the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan so he can receive necessary curative medication 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 fitness issues which include chronic myeloid leukemia diabetes and walking difficulties that require a wheelchair to get in and out of court Related Articles A US citizen was held for pickup by ICE even after proving he was born in the country Idaho police release body camera video of nonverbal and autistic teen s fatal shooting US strikes on a Yemeni oil port kill people Houthis say in deadliest attack of Trump campaign pages of records about Robert F Kennedy s assassination are disclosed on Trump s order Students at Florida State gather at memorials prepare to retrieve belongings after deadly shooting 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 occurrence will resume Monday with more jury selection after nine jurors were picked this week In all 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 conviction and -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 new months for therapy of various maladies At a pretrial hearing in January he railed against his rehabilitation at Rikers telling Farber he needed to get out of this hellhole as fast as accomplishable Weinstein s lawyers filed a legal claim against New York City last November alleging he was receiving substandard diagnostic cure in unhygienic conditions at Rikers The claim which seeks 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 manageable federal takeover finding the city had placed inmates in unconstitutional danger
