After his New York rape conviction was overturned by the state’s highest appeals court, Harvey Weinstein was admitted to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan for multiple tests. The disgraced former Hollywood mogul’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, stated that Weinstein, who is 72 years old, has a lot of health problems and is undergoing various tests. Despite being in custody, he remains under hospital care and is scheduled to return to court in New York on May 1.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has announced their intention to retry the case in order to seek justice for survivors of sexual assault. The decision to overturn Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction was made by a slim majority of the New York Court of Appeals, who found that the original trial allowed testimony of “prior bad acts” against women who were not complainants in the trial. This was seen as unfairly prejudicial as it suggested Weinstein had a propensity to commit such acts.
Weinstein is currently serving a 16-year sentence following a 2022 California rape conviction, which was not affected by the recent decision in New York. California state law differs from New York in how it views “prior bad acts” testimony, which may have influenced the outcome of Weinstein’s trial in each state. Despite the legal challenges he is facing, Weinstein’s health concerns are currently the focus of his care at Bellevue Hospital.