NEW YORK _ A Manhattan prosecutor called for a huge bump in alleged serial sex offender Harvey Weinstein's bail after alleging the Oscar winner couldn't keep his hands off an electronic ankle monitor.
The disgraced producer sometimes dropped off the law enforcement radar for hours at a time by disabling a piece of his court-ordered tracking device, with 74 violations reported in recent months, charged Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi-Orbon, who requested a bail increase to $5 million or $50 million bond secured by a 10% payment.
"Here's a man who has (run) multimillion-dollar businesses, and has juggled many, many issues at the same time," Illuzzi-Orbon said at Friday's hearing. "It defies logic to believe that he cannot navigate taking his device with him when he travels outside his home.
"The people's position is none of the bracelet violations were accidental or in any way forgetful on the part of the defendant."
Defense attorney Donna Rotunno denied that the Hollywood honcho had deliberately done anything to the monitor, blaming "technical glitches" like dead batteries and a lack of cell towers for the issues.
"It has nothing to do with any manipulation of the bracelet," Rotunno told reporters after the hearing.
Manhattan Criminal Court Judge James Burke adjourned the case to this coming Wednesday without ruling on the bail issue.
The once-renowned, now-reviled movie producer arrived for the hearing at 9:20 a.m., wearing a pair of black canvas Vans and an oversized gray suit, with his face unevenly shaved. A somewhat gaunt Weinstein, his left arm held by an associate, hobbled into a front row courtroom seat and later departed the courthouse in the same unsteady fashion.
The defense lawyer, while acknowledging that Weinstein once forgot to attach a key piece of the device before heading out, described that incident as a one-off event.
"The minute he realized he forgot it, he made a phone call," Rotunno insisted.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to charges of raping a woman inside a Manhattan hotel in 2013 and performing a forcible sex act on a second woman seven years early.
Weinstein, whose dozens of accusers include a roster of Hollywood stars including Rosanna Arquette, Daryl Hannah, Salma Hayek and Rose McGowan, has insisted that all his interactions were consensual.
The allegations against Weinstein run the gamut from inappropriate comments and touching to rape and sexual assault.
