Harvey Weinstein begged the court to push his trial date forward as he battles cancer.
Judge Curtis J. Farber set Weinstein’s rape retrial for April 15 during Wednesday’s hearing. However, the disgraced entertainment mogul claimed he would not be here in April.
“I’m asking and begging you to switch,” Weinstein told the judge in a rare direct address to the court. “I can’t hold on anymore. I’m holding on because I want justice for myself.”
Weinstein told Judge Farber that he was given the “wrong pills” earlier Wednesday morning but “caught” the mistake at the “right moment.”
HARVEY WEINSTEIN HOSPITALIZED AFTER ‘ALARMING BLOOD TEST’ AS REP CONFIRMS LEUKEMIA DIAGNOSIS
“I am begging for you to move your date, so we can proceed with trial as quickly as possible, so I can get out of this hellhole,” he claimed. “There are so many people suffering in Rikers island. They don’t have the same mouthpiece. It’s a medieval situation. This is something that has to be stopped.”
Farber told Weinstein and his lawyers he was trying to resolve and move the trial up, but as of now, April 15 is the date that works.
“Judge Farber demonstrated exceptional responsiveness, and we deeply appreciate his thoughtful consideration of Harvey’s condition and circumstances,” Weinstein’s representative, Juda Engelmayer, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “He is literally batting for his life. We remain confident in a swift and efficient trial process and firmly believe that Harvey will be fully exonerated.”
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Weinstein was rushed to Bellevue Hospital in December after receiving an “alarming blood test.” At the time, his rep confirmed the former film producer had been diagnosed with leukemia.
“Mr. Weinstein, who is suffering from a number of illnesses, including leukemia, has been deprived the medical attention that someone in his medical state deserves, prisoner or not. In many ways, this mistreatment constitutes cruel and unusual punishment,” Engelmayer previously told Fox News Digital in a statement.
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Weinstein’s team has been adamant about his declining health in recent months, claiming he is “basically getting no treatment” for his various medical issues.
“All I can tell you is he is not getting the treatment he deserves,” Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said after a court hearing in July. “He needs some relief. We are very confident of the outcome of this trial… he will get acquitted. There is a lot of light at the end of the tunnel for Mr. Weinstein.”
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A New York appeals court overturned Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction this past April, ordering a new trial in a stunning reversal of a landmark #MeToo case.
In a 4-3 decision, the court found that Weinstein’s trial judge allowed prosecutors to call women who said Weinstein had assaulted them to testify, even though their accusations did not specifically relate to the entertainment mogul’s charges.
Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison after being convicted in February 2020 of forcing oral sex on TV and film production assistant Mimi Haley in 2006 and third-degree rape of hairstylist Jessica Mann in 2013. He was acquitted of first-degree rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault from actor Annabella Sciorra’s allegations of rape in the 1990s. Weinstein has denied ever engaging in non-consensual sex.
