Harvey Weinstein in New York hospital after returning to Rikers Island, lawyers say – NBC Chicago

Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer said Saturday that the former movie mogul was hospitalized for a battery of tests after returning to New York following an appeals court ruling overturning his rape conviction in 2020.

Attorney Arthur Aidala said Weinstein was transferred to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan after arriving at the city’s jails on Friday.

“They examined him and sent him to Bellevue. It seems he needs a lot of help physically. He has a lot of problems. He passes all kinds of tests. He’s kind of a train wreck in terms of his health,” Aidala said.

A message left at the hospital was not immediately returned Saturday.

Frank Dwyer, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Corrections, said only that Weinstein remained in custody at Bellevue. Thomas Mailey, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said Weinstein was turned over to the city Department of Corrections in accordance with the appeal ruling. Weinstein had been housed at the Mohawk Correctional Center, about 100 miles northwest of Albany.

On Thursday, the New York Court of Appeals overturned his conviction after finding that a trial judge allowed jurors to see and hear too much evidence not directly related to the charges against him. She also overturned his 23-year prison sentence and ordered a new trial.

Prosecutors said they intended to retry him on charges of forcibly performing oral sex on a television and film production assistant in 2006 and raping an aspiring actor in 2013.

Weinstein remained in custody after the appeal ruling because he was convicted in Los Angeles in 2022 of another rape and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

For some time, Weinstein has suffered from various ailments, including heart problems, diabetes, sleep apnea and eye problems.

Aidala said she spoke to Weinstein Friday afternoon while he was in transit to New York from an upstate prison, less than 24 hours after the appeal ruling, made public Thursday morning.

He said his client’s ailments were physical, adding that mentally he was “sharp as a bug.” Feet are firmly anchored on the ground. »

The attorney said it typically takes a week or two for the state’s Department of Corrections and Corrections to arrange transportation for a prisoner.

“He was not treated well. They refused to give him even a sip of water, no food, no bathroom break,” Aidala said. “He is a sick 72-year-old man.”

Mailey, the state corrections spokesman, had no comment when Aidala’s remarks about Weinstein’s treatment were read to him over the phone.

Aidala said she was told that Bellevue doctors planned to run numerous tests on Weinstein before he could be returned to the Rikers Island prison complex.

The lawyer said he was scheduled to meet with Weinstein on Monday. He added that he plans to tell a judge when Weinstein appears in court Wednesday in Manhattan that a new trial should be held after Labor Day.