Judge threatens to jail Harvey Weinstein for texting in court

Film producer Harvey Weinstein arrives at New York Criminal Court
REUTERS
Katy Clifton7 January 2020

A judge threatened to jail Harvey Weinstein after catching him texting in court during the second day of his rape trial.

The former film producer, 67, was caught using his phone in New York Criminal Court just as jury selection got underway.

Visibly angry State Judge James Burke asked Weinstein: "Is this really the way you want to end up in jail for the rest of your life, by texting and violating a court order?"

Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi, the lead prosecutor, urged Judge Burke to jail Weinstein.

The judge ultimately decided not to jail Weinstein but warned he would not get another chance.

Harvey Weinstein
AFP via Getty Images

It came as Judge Burke ordered jury selection to begin as scheduled, rejecting a defence request for a “cooling-off period” after prosecutors in Los Angeles brought new charges against the fallen movie mogul.

“For a prosecutor, this is Christmas morning — the morning of jury selection to have him smeared everywhere,” said one of his lawyers, Arthur Aidala, who asked for the delay in jury selection.

The judge also denied a request from prosecutors to revoke Weinstein’s bail and jail him until the trial is over, saying the new case against him in Los Angeles increased his incentive to flee.

“There is a grave risk that this defendant will realise at some point that the evidence is overwhelming,” said assistant district attorney Joan Illuzzi.

Weinstein, who recently underwent back surgery and hobbled into court using a walking frame, is charged in New York with raping a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performing a sex act on another woman in the city in 2006. The 67-year-old has said any sexual activity was consensual.

REUTERS

Scores of potential jurors were summoned for a selection process that could take weeks, given the heavy publicity surrounding the case and the way Weinstein has been cast as the chief villain of the MeToo movement.

Once one of Hollywood’s most powerful producers, Weinstein has now been accused of sexual assault, harassment and misconduct by dozens of women, from famous actresses to assistants at his former company.

The allegations began surfacing publicly in October 2017 and sparked the MeToo movement, as well as investigations in multiple places.

Los Angeles prosecutors charged Weinstein on Monday with sexually assaulting two women there on successive nights during Oscars week in 2013.

Additional reporting by Press Association.

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