Harvey Weinstein, 72, is hospitalized after returning to Rikers Island following the shocking overturn of his rape conviction

Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer has said that that the onetime movie mogul has been hospitalized for a battery of tests after his return to New York City. 

Attorney Arthur Aidala said Weinstein was moved to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan after his arrival on Friday into Rikers Island.

Aidala said: ‘They examined him and sent him to Bellevue. It seems like he needs a lot of help, physically. 

‘He’s got a lot of problems. He’s getting all kinds of tests. He’s somewhat of a train wreck health wise.’

The New York Court of Appeals ruled on Thursday that the disgraced movie producer did not receive a fair trial when he was convicted in 2020. 

Weinstein, 72, has been serving 23 years in a New York jail for the two sex attacks against aspiring actress Jessica Mann and production assistant Mimi Haleyi. He was handed a further 16 years following his conviction in LA in 2022.

The ruling concluded that a trial judge permitted jurors to see and hear too much evidence not directly related to the charges he faced. It also erased his 23-year prison sentence and ordered a retrial.

Prosecutors said they intend to retry him on charges that he forcibly performed oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 and raped an aspiring actor in 2013.

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

For some time, Weinstein has been ailing with a variety of afflictions, including cardiac issues, diabetes, sleep apnea and eye problems.

Aidala said he spoke to Weinstein on Friday afternoon after he was in transit to New York City from an upstate jail less than 24 hours after the appeals ruling, which was released Thursday morning.

He said his client’s ailments are physical, adding that mentally he is ‘sharp as a tack. Feet are firmly planted on the ground.’

The lawyer said it usually takes state corrections and prisons officials a week or two to arrange to transport 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’s a 72-year-old sickly man.’

Aidala said he was told that Bellevue doctors planned to run a lot of tests on Weinstein before he can be returned to the Rikers Island jail complex.

The lawyer said he’s scheduled to meet with Weinstein on Monday. He added that he plans to tell a judge when Weinstein goes to court on Wednesday in Manhattan that a retrial should occur after Labor Day.

Frank Dwyer, a spokesperson with the New York City Department of Correction, said only that Weinstein remains in custody at Bellevue. 

Thomas Mailey, a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said Weinstein was turned over to the city’s Department of Correction pursuant to the appeals ruling. 

Weinstein had been housed at the Mohawk Correctional Facility, about 100 miles northwest of Albany. 

Weinstein became the face of the #MeToo movement after dozens of women came forward alleging sexual abuse. Thursday’s decision was described as ‘profoundly unjust’ by his accusers.

A new trial has been ordered after it was determined Justice James M. Burke, who presided over Weinstein’s New York City case in 2020, made a ‘crucial’ mistake during the initial trial. 

In a 4-3 decision, the appellant court determined that the Judge Burke had made an error in allowing women to testify who were not part of the case. 

‘The news today is not only disheartening, but it’s profoundly unjust,’ a statement from Silence Breakers, the group behind the #MeToo movement said.

‘But this ruling does not diminish the validity of our experiences or our truth; it’s merely a setback. The man found guilty continues to serve time in a California prison.

‘We continue to stand strong and advocate for that change. We will continue to fight for justice for survivors everywhere.’

Actress Ashley Judd, one of the first to publicly accuse Weinstein, shared her disappointment with the ruling.

‘That’s really hard for the survivors … We still live in our truth. And we know what happened,’ she told the New York Times.

But Weinstein’s lawyer hailed the decision as, ‘not just a victory for Mr Weinstein, but for every criminal defendant in the state of New York’.

‘We compliment the court of appeals for upholding the most basic principles that a criminal defendant should have in a trial,’ he told the outlet.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg vowed to do ‘everything in our power’ to retry the case, adding his office, ‘remains steadfast in our commitment to survivors of sexual assault.’

If his second appeal against his Los Angeles is successful, the shamed film boss could walk free. 

Defense attorney Mark Werksman who defended Weinstein in the LA case was optimistic about his chances.

‘This is a great outcome and the right result. We faced the same fundamental unfairness in the Los Angeles case where the judge allowed the jury to hear evidence about four uncharged and unproven allegations of sexual assault, Werksman told DailyMail.com.

His spokesperson Juda Engelmayer told DailyMail.com earlier this week that Weinstein wept ‘tears of joy’ after hearing it had been overturned.  

Weinstein was jailed in New York for the two attacks in 2006 and 2013. He was convicted of third degree rape against Mann and criminal sexual act against Haleyi, but acquitted of first degree rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault.

The court heard Mann was attacked by Weinstein in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013.

Haleyi testified that he forcibly performed oral sex on her in his apartment while she had her period in 2006.

The predatory sexual assault charge, which was the most serious, incorporated Sopranos actress Anabella Sciorra’s allegation that she was raped by Weinstein in her Manhattan apartment in the mid-1990s.

Sciorra’s allegation was too old to be charged on its own because of the statute of limitations, but jurors had to consider it as a basis for charges alleging Weinstein is a sexual predator.

In total, six women took to the stand to give harrowing accounts of alleged abuse.

Costume designer Dawn Dunning, model Tarale Wulff and actress Lauren Marie Young were among those who testified they were enticed into meeting Weinstein for professional reasons and then groped or raped.

Weinstein was given an additional 16 year sentence in Los Angeles following conviction for a rape which took place in 2013.

The victim was attacked by the shamed Miramax boss at a hotel room after a film festival, but only came forward after #MeToo opened the floodgates against him.

Weinstein was acquitted in Los Angeles on charges against Mann who alleged he also raped her in California.

Weinstein’s lawyers argued Judge James Burke’s rulings in favor of the prosecution turned the trial into ‘1-800-GET-HARVEY.’

But Wigdor Law, which represented eight of Weinstein’s accusers including two connected to the New York trial, blasted the appeal court’s ruling.

‘Today’s decision is a major step back in holding those accountable for acts of sexual violence.

‘Courts routinely admit evidence of other uncharged acts where they assist juries in understanding issues concerning the intent, modus operandi or scheme of the defendant.

‘The jury was instructed on the relevance of this testimony and overturning the verdict is tragic in that it will require the victims to endure yet another trial.’

The ruling was handed down by Judge Jenny Rivera, with Chief Judge Rowan D. Wilson and Judges Betsy Barros and Christine Clark concurring.

Judges Madeline Singas, Michael Garcia and Anthony Cannataro dissented, while Judges Shirley Troutman and Caitlin Halligan took no part.

In a scathing dissent, Judge Singas accused the majority judges of ‘whitewashing the facts to conform to a he-said/she-said narrative.’

‘The majority’s determination perpetuates outdated notions of sexual violence and allows predators to escape accountability,’ Singas said.

 

The reversal of his conviction is the second major #MeToo setback in the last two years, after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a Pennsylvania court decision to throw out Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction.

Weinstein’s conviction stood for more than four years, heralded by activists and advocates as a milestone achievement, but dissected just as quickly by his lawyers and, later, the Court of Appeals when it heard arguments on the matter in February.

New York State of Appeals Chief Judge Janet DiFiore ruled that Weinstein’s appeal could proceed in 2022.

At the time, his lawyer Arthur Aidala argued that women who did not form part of the criminal allegations should not have been allowed to take the stand and testify about alleged sex abuse by his client.

He also alleged that one juror did not disclose they’d previously written a book on sexual predators, which he said should have disqualified them from serving.

Weinstein denied the charges against him and insisted that his relations with the women were consensual.

More than 80 women came forward to accuse the Oscar-winning producer of sexual assault and harassment.

The allegations first surfaced publicly in a New York Times story in 2017 detailing decades of alleged abuse.

Actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd were among those who were named in the piece as accusers.

The allegations sparked a sea change in attitudes towards sexual misconduct in the workplace.