Prosecutors promise to buy Harvey Weinstein new GLASSES so he can be extradited to LA from New York as disgraced producer continues to claim he is losing his eyesight
- Prosecutors have promised ‘continuity of care’ for Harvey Weinstein in LA
- Weinstein, 69, has been diagnosed with vision loss and claims the problem is so severe that he will go blind without treatment
- His lawyers say he should not be extradited from New York until he completes the treatment, a process they say could take six to nine months
- LA prosecutors offered to help him get new glasses and surgery if necessary
- Weinstein is serving a 23-year sentence in New York for rape and assault
- He is accused of sexually assaulting five women in LA and Beverly Hills
- On June 15 a judge declined any further delays to Weinstein’s extradition to LA
- The transfer is expected to happen some time in July
Prosecutors have promised ‘continuity of care’ for Harvey Weinstein, including new glasses and surgery if necessary, to ensure the disgraced movie mogul can be extradited from New York to Los Angeles to face trial.
Weinstein, who has been diagnosed with vision loss, claims the problem is so severe that he is about to go blind.
His lawyers have been fighting efforts to extradite him after a Los Angeles grand jury indicted him on charges including sexual battery by restraint and rape.
The 69-year-old is already serving a 23-year sentence in New York after being convicted of rape and assault in February 2020 after a two month trial in what was seen as a landmark case in the #MeToo movement.
Weinstein, who is accused sexually assaulting five women in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, would not suffer any disruptions to his medical care once collected from the Erie County prison where he is serving his sentence, lawyers for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and District Attorney’s Office said in separate paperwork obtained by the New York Daily News.
A letter filed Wednesday to Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William C. Ryan stated that Weinstein could receive his next shot of Avastin – a drug to treat his vision loss – in early August, once in the custody of LA County Sheriff’s deputies.
Prosecutors have promised ‘continuity of care’ for Harvey Weinstein, including new glasses and surgery if necessary, to ensure the disgraced movie mogul can be extradited from New York to Los Angeles to face trial [File photo]
The producer would receive ‘reasonable treatment for cataracts including surgery if necessary,’ county lawyer Karen Joynt wrote in the letter.
Joynt went on to say that she is prepared to assist Weinstein’s lawyers in getting new glasses with corrective lenses for him after a New York doctor stated that his ‘current reading glasses are broken and do not fit him’.
Prosecutors in the case say they are ready to bring Weinstein to trial within the four months given to do so following a transfer. But Weinstein’s lawyers say he will not be medically fit to stand trial in that time.
‘The People are informed and believe that Los Angeles County Sheriff Department is capable of providing continuity of medical care,’ the Daily News reported lawyer Cassandra Thorp, representing the DA, wrote to Judge Ryan in a letter dated July 6.
The letters from the lawyers were filed this week in response to a habeas corpus petition filed by Weinstein’s camp in Los Angeles on June 15.
That same day, a New York judge declined a further delay to Weinstein’s extradition. The transfer is expected in July.
In the petition, Weinstein’s lawyers said he was suffering from a severe cataract in his right eye and an active lesion in his left eye.
In order to avoid going blind, he needs treatment that could take six to nine months, his lawyers said.
His lawyers still argue that any move poses a threat to their ailing client, and said in their rejected petition that he will be medically ready for the transfer following the end of his treatment.
Weinstein, who has been diagnosed with vision loss, claims the problem is so severe that he is about to go blind. Pictured: Weinstein attends a hearing from prison on June 15
‘We appreciate the DA and the Sheriff promising to provide Mr. Weinstein with quality medical care, but he is midstream in a critical and sensitive course of treatment with an ophthalmologist in Buffalo that is necessary to prevent him from going blind,’ lawyer Mark Werksman said in a statement to the Daily News.
‘We believe he should be allowed to complete his treatment with his current doctor without the delays and dislocation and medical risks that will be caused by transporting him to Los Angeles.’
His lawyers say the D.A.’s position forces Weinstein to choose between forgoing treatment, and so risking his sight, or waiving his right to a speedy trial once extradited.
Earlier this month, the producer’s lawyers said that Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction being overturned ‘reaffirms our confidence’ that the disgraced movie producer will be cleared too.
Attorney Arthur Aidala told DailyMail.com that the June 30 decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court showed that courts could ‘come to the correct decision’ if allowed to.
Aidala said that he was sure that the Appellate Division in New York, where Weinstein lodged his appeal against his conviction and 23 year jail sentence, will be overturned because of the ‘abundance of issues that cry out for a reversal’.
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