Harvey Weinstein begs judge to move his trial date up: 'I can’t hold on anymore‘
‘I’m holding on because I want justice for myself,’ the 72-year-old disgraced film producer pleaded
Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein asked a New York judge to move up his trial date due to his ailing health.
Judge Curtis Farber scheduled Weinstein’s retrial over his sexual assault case to start April 15. Weinstein, who suffers from chronic myeloid leukemia, diabetes and heart problems, objected, saying he doesn’t have much time left.
“I won’t be there for April,” the 72-year-old said from his wheelchair, begging the judge to move up the retrial date, the Associated Press reported. “I can’t hold on anymore. I’m holding on because I want justice for myself.”
“I’m in a serious emergency situation, I’m begging for you to move your date,” Weinstein said. “I need to get out of this hellhole as quickly as possible,” he said about Rikers Island, where he’s been held since 2020 following his rape and sexual assault conviction. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
A state appeals court overturned his conviction last April, arguing the court had made “egregious errors” by allowing prosecutors to call witnesses whose allegations were not related to the charges at hand.
![Harvey Weinstein appears in State Supreme Court for a hearing in his sexual assault case on Wednesday. He begged the judge to move up his retrial date due to his declining health](https://static.the-independent.com/2025/01/29/21/19/Harvey-Weinstein-appears-in-State-Supreme-Court-for-a-hearing-in-his-sexual-assault-case-on-Wednesda.jpeg)
The former Miramax boss was indicted on an additional sex crime charge last September; he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a Manhattan hotel in 2006. The anonymous accuser approached prosecutors days before his Weinstein's first trial began but was ultimately not part of that case, according to the Manhattan DA’s office.
He pleaded not guilty to the new charge.
Farber said he would consider Weinstein’s rescheduling request, but he denied his bid to dismiss the new charge, according to ABC News. "The court has inspected the grand jury minutes and found them to be sufficient,” the judge said.
Weinstein was also convicted in Los Angeles in 2022, for which he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. He launched an appeal in June, with his lawyers arguing he wasn’t given a fair trial.
In the New York courtroom on Wednesday, Weinstein argued: “There are so many people suffering at Rikers Island. So many of the people I am with in prison are going through similar problems. They don’t have the same mouthpiece I have.” He added:“It remains a stain on this city.”
In November, a federal judge found New York City in contempt for failing to put an end to the violence and brutality that plague the prison culture.
Weinstein said he expects to be back in the hospital soon, where he’s been in and out of the last few months. Weinstein was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in October 2024. A month earlier, he underwent emergency heart surgery.
“They know that Mr. Weinstein is dying of cancer and is an innocent man right now in the state of New York,” Aidala argued in court last week. He pleaded to prosecutors: “Can I try this dying man’s case first?”