The disgraced movie mogul objected after Judge Curtis Farber said the retrial would start April 15, imploring him to swap with another, unrelated trial the judge has in March. Weinstein, 72, is being treated for numerous health conditions, including chronic myeloid leukemia, heart issues and diabetes. He complained to Farber that jail officers gave him the wrong pills Wednesday morning and failed to pick him up for court in a timely fashion.
At times as he addressed Farber, he sounded more like the imperious studio boss he once was. Weinstein said that at times he finds himself gasping for air and predicted that he would soon be in a hospital again for treatment.
He quizzed the judge about his trial calendar, including jury selection in another matter that is set to begin Monday. Weinstein is being retried on charges that he forcibly performed oral sex on a movie and TV production assistant in and raped an aspiring actor in The additional charge, filed last September, alleges he forced oral sex on a different woman at a Manhattan hotel in In , he became the most prominent villain of the MeToo movement , which erupted when women began going public with accounts of his behavior.
Burke, unfairly allowed testimony against him based on allegations from other women that were not part of the case. Burke is no longer on the bench. Weinstein was convicted in Los Angeles in of another rape. His year prison sentence in that case still stands, but his lawyers appealed in June , arguing he did not get a fair trial. The Associated Press does not generally identify people alleging sexual assault unless they consent to be named.
By Associated Press ap dfmdev. More in National News.
