Lawyer: Hospitalized Weinstein is ‘energized’ about appeal

By: The Associated Press Posted: 9:46 AM CST Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020 Last Modified: 1:52 PM CST Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020

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NEW YORK - A hospitalized Harvey Weinstein was “upbeat” and “energized” about appealing his sexual assault and rape conviction, one of his lawyers said Tuesday as one of Weinstein's accusers said the verdict made her feel grateful to be “heard and believed.”

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/02/2020 (2394 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK – A hospitalized Harvey Weinstein was “upbeat” and “energized” about appealing his sexual assault and rape conviction, one of his lawyers said Tuesday as one of Weinstein’s accusers said the verdict made her feel grateful to be “heard and believed.”

Weinstein remained in a jail unit at Bellevue Hospital, where he was taken after the verdict Monday to be checked out for heart palpitations and high blood pressure.

Attorney Arthur Aidala on Tuesday called the hospitalization “a precautionary measure to take him here and make sure his vitals and everything were OK” and said it wasn’t clear how long Weinstein would be at Bellevue.

In this courtroom sketch, Harvey Weinstein, is led out of Manhattan Supreme Court by court officers after after a jury convicted him of rape and sexual assault, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020 in New York. The jury found him not guilty of the most serious charge, predatory sexual assault, which could have resulted in a life sentence.in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

After Monday’s verdict, he had been destined for jail to await sentencing, set for March 11.

In the meantime, Weinstein greeted his lawyer, unhandcuffed, in a large hospital room with jail officers outside and was looking forward to visitors, Aidala said.

“He’s in pretty good spirits. He’s energized,” the attorney told reporters.

He said the 67-year-old former Hollywood studio boss was insisting on his innocence and “somewhat flabbergasted by the verdict,” but determined to fight on.

“There is a portion of him where he’s just scratching his head and he doesn’t know how this happened, but he’s cautiously optimistic” about prevailing on appeal, Aidala said.

His remarks came after Mimi Haleyi, a former production assistant who accused Weinstein of forcing oral sex on her in 2006, called the verdict “a huge relief.”

FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2017, file photo, Mimi Haleyi appears at a news conference in New York. Haleyi is expected to appear on the witness stand Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, at Weinstein's New York City trial. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

“I just think that we’re being educated about the reality of sexual assault and sexual assault victims,” Haleyi said on “CBS This Morning.”

“It’s not always just a stranger. It’s very often somebody that the person knows, and with that comes an entire other layer of processing,” she said.

“Whatever the verdict had been, it wouldn’t have changed what happened to me, but obviously it was terrifying to think that I wouldn’t be believed,” she added later on MSNBC.

Weinstein faces a possible sentence of five to 29 years after a Manhattan jury convicted him of sexually assaulting Haleyi and raping an aspiring actress in 2013. He was acquitted of first-degree rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault.

Weinstein has maintained that any sex between him and his accusers was consensual.

Asked about Weinstein on Tuesday, President Donald Trump called the disgraced producer’s conviction a “great victory” for women that “sends a very strong message.”

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2020 file photo, Mimi Haleyi, right, arrives to testify in Harvey Weinstein's trial on charges of rape and sexual assault in New York. Haleyi, one of the women Harvey Weinstein was convicted of sexually assaulting, said Tuesday, Feb. 25, that the verdict made her feel grateful to be “heard and believed.” Weinstein faces a possible sentence of five to 29 years after a Manhattan jury convicted him of sexually assaulting Haleyi and raping an aspiring actress in 2013. He was acquitted of first-degree rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

“He was a person I didn’t like,” Trump told reporters during a news conference in India. “The people that liked him were the Democrats. Michelle Obama loved him. Loved him. Hillary Clinton loved him.”

Trump himself stands accused of sexual misconduct, including a rape allegation, by more than a dozen women when he was a private citizen. He has denied the allegations and has not been charged in any of the alleged sexual assaults.

The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sex crimes unless they grant permission, as Haleyi did.