Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer fears the convicted rapist could be arrested by Los Angeles authorities if they try to get him out on bail while he awaits sentencing in New York.
Weinstein is currently in custody in a Manhattan hospital after being convicted by a New York jury this week of raping Jessica Mann in 2013 and sexually assaulting Mimi Haleyi in 2006.
His legal team had initially said after his conviction that they were trying to get him released on bond prior to his March 11 sentencing.
But one of his defense lawyers now says that might not be the case due to separate charges Weinstein is facing in California.
One of Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers fears the convicted rapist could be arrested by Los Angeles authorities if they try to get him out on bail while he awaits sentencing in New York. He is pictured arriving at court on Monday on the day he was convicted
‘This is all new uncharted territory,’ lawyer Arthur Aidala told Bloomberg.
‘He’s got his case in LA, and we’re trying to figure out – if we get him out – they could immediately move to get him in their custody once a judge here grants him bail.’
In the California case, Weinstein is accused of raping one woman in a Beverly Hills hotel and groping another woman, model Lauren Young, while masturbating in a hotel bathroom on consecutive nights during Oscars week in 2013.
He is charged with forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint.
The charges, which were announced the night before his New York rape trial started on January 6, could land Weinstein an additional 28 years in prison if convicted of the most serious counts.
Weinstein, who plans to appeal, is facing up to 29 years in prison for the New York conviction.
He is currently being guarded at the Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan after he started suffering from heart palpitations and chest pains just moments after his conviction was handed down.
His legal team had initially said after his conviction that they were trying to get him released on bond prior to his March 11 sentencing. But one of his defense lawyers Arthur Aidala now says that might not be the case due to separate charges Weinstein is facing in California
Weinstein is currently in custody in a Manhattan hospital after being convicted by a New York jury this week of raping Jessica Mann in 2013 and sexually assaulting Mimi Haleyi in 2006
Weinstein is expected to be transferred to the notorious Rikers Island jail once he is released from hospital. It is not yet clear when that will be.
The LA case will not start until after his sentencing in New York on March 11 and no date has yet been set.
Weinstein is expected to be released into the custody of Los Angeles authorities so he can face trial there. If convicted, he would then serve any potential prison sentence in California after his New York sentence is over.
Weinstein’s lawyer Donna Rotunno told DailyMail.com that their team haven’t yet started thinking about the LA case.
One of the woman Weinstein is charged with sexually assaulting in the LA case, Lauren Young, was one of the six accusers who testified during the New York trial.
Young, a model and actress, was among three women allowed to testify as prosecutors sought to show Weinstein’s ‘prior bad acts’ to establish a pattern of abuse.
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)
One of the woman Weinstein is charged with sexually assaulting in the LA case, Lauren Marie Young, was one of the six accusers who testified during the New York trial
It is not yet clear how many prior bad act witnesses LA prosecutors will call in that case.
California does not have the same restraints New York does in terms of allowing such witnesses and prosecutors are reportedly hoping to take advantage of it by widening the scope and number of witnesses they can use to show an alleged pattern.
Italian-Filipina model Ambra Gutierrez is expected to be one of those witnesses, sources told the New York Times.
Gutierrez was one of the first women to publicly accuse Weinstein of sexual misconduct in 2015 when she went to police and claimed he had fondled her breasts and put his hand up her skirt during a business meeting.
Investigators had her wear a wire when she went to meet with the producer the following day and he was heard in the tapes apologizing for his inappropriate touching as he begged her to go to his hotel room.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, however, declined to press charges at the time.
While LA prosecutors can’t bring charges against Weinstein over Gutierrez’s allegations, her testimony is expected to play a role in the case there.