NEW YORK _ A frail Harvey Weinstein arrived at Manhattan Criminal Court Monday leaning on a walker and needing help getting up stairs. The perv producer was pale and flanked by his legal team as roughly 20 protesters holding signs reading "Believe Survivors" and "Justice for Survivors" watched him shuffle into the courthouse.
"Thank god your mother is not here to see this," one protester hollered at Weinstein, who was forced to use the walker after undergoing back surgery recently, according to his lawyers.
The disgraced film producer ignored questions from dozens of reporters as he shuffled toward Justice James Burke's 13th-floor courtroom for last-minute legal arguments ahead of Tuesday's kickoff to a trial expected to last as long as eight weeks and bring in journalists and film stars from all over the world.
His attorney asked the judge to sequester the jury for the entire trial ? a request Judge Burke immediately denied.
Burke did, however, hold off on issuing a decision over potentially embarrassing photos of Weinstein prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon described as "very, very important" evidence.
"The defense is particularly sensitive about some exhibits," Illuzzi-Orbon said. "It is not the practice of the Manhattan District Attorney's office to ever, ever humiliate the defendant."
She noted they were in possession of more than 70 photos of Weinstein, but only wanted to submit 7 as evidence. Judge Burke said he couldn't think of a delicate way to present the photos in question at trial, so chose to officially rule on the matter at a later date.
Weinstein faces charges of first- and third-degree rape, criminal sex in the first degree, and two counts of predatory sexual assault.
If convicted of the top charge of predatory sex assault in the first degree, Weinstein could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Weinstein, 67, who was arrested on May 25, 2018, has been accused by his former production assistant Mimi Haleyi of performing forcible oral sex on her during a harrowing 2006 encounter in his Manhattan apartment.
Prosecutors have also charged the "Shakespeare in Love" producer with raping a separate woman, whose identity has remained anonymous, inside a Manhattan hotel room in March 2013.
"The Sopranos" actress Anabella Sciorra is expected to testify during the mammoth trial about Weinstein allegedly raping her 26 years ago along with a number of unnamed women who say they experienced similar disturbing incidents between 2006 and 2013.
More than 90 women globally have accused Weinstein of nonconsensual and in some cases violent sexual encounters since The New York Times and The New Yorker first published some of the allegations about the mega-producer in October 2017.
Weinstein's cataclysmic downfall sparked the #MeToo movement and led to the firing of high-profile men in multiple industries.
Several women who claim to have been abused by Weinstein spoke outside the courthouse Monday.
"Dear Harvey, no matter what lies you tell yourself, you did this," said actress Rose McGowan, who claims Weinstein raped her in the 1990s. "You brought this upon yourself by hurting so many."
"I've worked 20 years trying to make a name for myself as a journalist," said reporter Lauren Sivan. "But nowadays most people know me as the 'potted plant girl,' because of my accidental encounter with Harvey Weinstein."
Sivan claims she encountered Weinstein in 2007 at a restaurant in New York, where he allegedly masturbated in front of her into a potted plant.
"This is beyond retribution, I think, for us, it's about cultural change, and it's something that I hope the next generation doesn't have to deal with," said former model Paula Williams, who claims Weinstein exposed himself to her in 1990.
