Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein is scared of spending the rest of his life in prison because his two young children rely on him ‘on a daily basis’ and he is now using a wheelchair instead of his walker following his New York trial, his lawyer has revealed.
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com on Tuesday, Weinstein’s attorney Donna Rotunno said the 68-year-old would likely not survive years in prison and was frightened about the prospect of dying there after a jury being found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting two women.
Weinstein was convicted of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in his apartment in 2006 and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in a hotel room in 2013. He is facing a 29-year prison sentence on those two charges.
‘He’s 68 years old,’ Rotunno said. ‘Obviously he accepts it, look where he is right now. It’s a real – with his health – who knows how many years he could survive in there. Probably not that many.’
The disgraced Hollywood producer dodged spending his first night as a convicted rapist at Rikers Island jail after he was instead taken straight from court via ambulance to Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital to be treated for heart palpitations and high blood pressure.
Rotunno said Weinstein has now been confined to a wheelchair after his infamous walker was taken from him when he was handcuffed and removed from the court room just moments after the verdict was handed down.
‘He is in a wheelchair for now. They won’t let you take the walker because it could be a weapon,’ she said.
‘Think about a guy who needs a walker to walk and now you’re going to put him in a wheelchair. Think about how he is going to deteriorate.’
Harvey Weinstein’s attorney Donna Rotunno said the 68-year-old (pictured arriving in court on Monday) would likely not survive years in prison after a jury being found guilty of raping and sexually assaulting two women
In an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com on Tuesday, Weinstein’s attorney Donna Rotunno said her client was frightened about the prospect of dying in prison
Rotunno said she had been receiving updates on Weinstein’s condition since he was hospitalized and that ‘we have no reason to believe he’s not fine’.
She refused to comment on his specific health conditions other than to say ‘it’s not great’ and that she wasn’t surprised ‘given the stress of the situation’.
‘Have you heard of HIPAA laws? I’m not getting into Mr Weinstein’s health problems. He went to the hospital with chest pains and high blood pressure. That’s what we know,’ she said.
He is currently being guarded by corrections officers in the hospital’s designated prison ward. Weinstein is expected to be transferred to the prison once he is released from hospital. It is not yet clear when that will be.
‘He’s on a lot of medications so I am just hoping that whatever’s going on will get stabilized. That he can at least hold out until we can get some papers filed,’ she said.
‘We’re going to try to get him out on bond pending appeal or pending sentencing.’
The judge said following the verdict that he would ask that Weinstein, who had been free on bail since his arrest nearly two years ago, be held in the prison infirmary after his lawyers said he needs medical attention following unsuccessful back surgery.
Rotunno denied claims Weinstein was faking his illnesses to avoid spending time in the notorious Rikers Island jail.
‘Absolutely not. Think about the stress you would be under if this is what your life looks like now. Think about your freedom being removed,’ she said.
‘The thought of his two young children who rely on him on a daily basis. This is not a joke… this is real life.’
The disgraced Hollywood producer was being taken from Manhattan’s criminal court to Rikers Island prison via ambulance (above) on Monday afternoon when he started suffering from chest pains
A courtroom sketch of Harvey Weinstein (center) being handcuffed by court officers after a jury convicted him of rape and sexual assault on Monday
Rotunno said she had been receiving updates on Weinstein’s condition since he was hospitalized and that ‘we have no reason to believe he’s not fine’
She said Weinstein’s life had been effected in ‘every possible way’ due to the sexual assault charges.
‘His oldest daughters don’t speak to him. So I mean it’s horrific. The ripple effect of someone losing their freedom is beyond what any of us could comprehend.
‘He’s been seeing the younger kids their whole lives. They live next door to each other, he has a great relationship with his younger children.’
Asked about his relationship with his ex-wife Georgina Chapman, Rotunno said: ‘They’re divorced but they work well together with the kids.’
She would not comment on Chapman’s reaction to the guilty verdict.
Weinstein and Chapman share nine-year-old daughter India and six-year-old son Dashiell. He has three daughters from his previous 20-year marriage to Eve Chilton – Lily, 25; Emma, 22; and Ruth, 17.
Rotunno, who has already said they will appeal Weinstein’s conviction, said they will push the judge for the minimum sentence at his scheduled hearing on March 11.
Weinstein was acquitted of the two most serious counts of predatory sexual assault, which each carried a potential life sentence. He was also found not guilty of first degree rape in relation to Mann.
The verdict followed weeks of often harrowing and excruciatingly graphic testimony from a string of accusers who told of rapes, forced oral sex, groping, masturbation and lewd propositions.
Bellevue Hospital, the medical facility where Weinstein spent his first night as a convicted rapist, has a prison ward and he was under the close watch of corrections officers
Rotunno said Weinstein has now been confined to a wheelchair after his infamous walker was taken from him when he was handcuffed and removed from the court room just moments after the verdict was handed down. A member of Weinstein’s publicity team was seen pushing his walker out of the courthouse following his verdict
Rotunno, in her interview with DailyMail.com, slammed the prosecution for submitting graphic, naked photos of her client as evidence for jurors to examine to corroborate Mann’s description of his ‘deformed or intersex’ body.
‘Of course it was horrific and it was completely unnecessary. You’ll notice none of that was addressed in their closing arguments. It wasn’t necessary for them to prove their case, it was not evidence they needed. That was done to shame him and nothing else,’ she said.
‘We had filed significant motions during the pre-trial process to stop that from happening. It didn’t work.’
Rotunno also defended her rigorous cross-examining of the witnesses, which included questions about why they continued speaking to Weinstein after the rape and assault, and decried the fact it had even been criticized.
Many have lauded the victims for agreeing to take the stand and subject themselves to the tough line of questioning they faced.
Rotunno said it was merely part of the process.
‘What was it supposed to be? Where’d you think you were going? You’re coming to a courtroom to be questioned about what you’re saying,’ she said.
‘Here I am in court asking questions and very respectfully, I was not screaming at anyone, I’m strong but I’m never disrespectful, and I am reading articles that say that my questioning was monstrous. I thought, “wow, where have we come as a society that we don’t even have a right to question. And we’re in a courtroom”.’
Weinstein was convicted by a jury of sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 (left) and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 (right)
Rotunno, in her interview with DailyMail.com, slammed the prosecution for submitting graphic, naked photos of her client as evidence for jurors to examine to corroborate Mann’s description of his ‘deformed or intersex’ body. Jurors are pictured looking at the naked photos in court
She reserved no sympathy for Mann, who he was convicted of raping, saying it was ‘difficult’ to consider her testimony ‘authentic’ when she and Weinstein maintained contact for so long afterwards.
‘There was a tape played in court where she talks about Harvey and she’s laughing and joking and saying she has all the power. It’s hard for me to reconcile listening to that in real time, and then watching her (on the stand) and believe that it’s authentic,’ she said.
Rotunno added that she had ‘binders of email’ exchanges between Mann and Weinstein that she did not use in court.
Rotunno said she would not comment specifically on whether she thought the trial process was fair until after sentencing, but did say she thought Weinstein had already been made an example of.
‘Most criminal defendants don’t walk into a courtroom with the flashes of cameras and clicking of keyboards,’ she said speaking about the high-profile nature of the trial.
In terms of possible sentences, Rotunno said: ‘Mr Weinstein has no background so he should be treated as someone with no background at all. In our system, you should be entitled to the minimum when you have no background especially in a culture now when we look at prison reform and bail reform – the rules are not different for Harvey Weinstein than they are for anyone else.
‘We of course are going to stress that he should have nothing more than the minimum.’
Weinstein now still faces charges in Los Angeles. In that case, announced just as the New York trial was getting under way on January 6, authorities allege Weinstein raped one woman and sexually assaulted another on back-to-back nights during Oscars week in 2013.
Rotunno said Weinstein’s legal team had not yet spoken about that case.
‘We have not even broached that subject other than making sure they weren’t going to come and arrest him,’ she said.
His lawyer Donna Rutonno said outside court on Monday that Weinstein took the verdict ‘like a man’ and that they were ‘absolutely appealing’ the conviction
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance praised jurors for their verdict and said Weinstein was finally being held accountable. He is pictured leaving court with lead prosecutor Joan Illuzzi
The verdict on Monday sealed Weinstein’s dizzying fall from powerful Hollywood studio boss to archvillain of the #MeToo movement.
Since 2017, more than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.
When the jury of seven men and five women handed down their verdict after five days of deliberations, Weinstein told his lawyer: ‘I’m innocent. I’m innocent. How can this happen in America?’
Following the verdict on Monday, Rotunno said outside court that Weinstein had taken the verdict ‘like a man’ and that they were ‘absolutely appealing’ the conviction.
‘Harvey is very strong. Harvey is unbelievably strong. He took it like a man. He knows that we will continue to fight for him and knows that this is not over,’ she said.
‘It is absolutely horrible for me to watch my client be taken into custody. We don’t feel good about that at all. Obviously, this is a bittersweet day. We are disappointed.
‘We knew we came in and we were down 35-0 on the day that we started this trial.
‘The jurors came in knowing everything they could know about this case. We couldn’t find a juror who had never heard of Harvey Weinstein.’
While his conviction marked the end of his New York trial, it is likely the beginning of a long legal battle in the appeals courts.
At the start of the case in January, Weinstein’s legal team objected to which jurors were chosen and what evidence the jury was allowed to hear.
They accused the judge of bias, the prosecutors of withholding evidence, and the media of turning the trial into a circus. They also unsuccessfully tried to boot a juror who wrote a book about young women and predatory older men.
All of these issues offer potential grounds for Weinstein to challenge his conviction. Weinstein’s lawyers said he would appeal but it was not immediately clear what approach they would take.
Following his conviction, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance praised jurors for their verdict and said Weinstein was finally being held accountable.
He praised the six accusers and the female prosecutor in the case as women who ‘pulled our justice system into the 21st century by declaring that rape is rape and sexual assault is sexual assault no matter what’.
‘Rape is rape whether it’s committed by a stranger in a dark alley or by an intimate partner in a working relationship. It’s rape whether it’s committed by an indigent person or by a man of power, prestige, and privilege,’ he said.