The last hearing Harvey Weinstein in his sexual assault case was delayed on Friday morning when, second Varietya flood resulted in a lockdown at the Twin Towers Correctional Center, the Los Angeles prison where the rapist is currently behind bars.

“Just a routine delay”one of Weinstein’s attorneys, Mark Werksman, told members of the media sitting in the courtroom.

“My client, on the pay phone, is still in his cell,” Weinstein’s lawyer said at around 9 pm, asking for an update from the sheriff, who was on the phone with the prison trying to arrange transportation for Weinstein. . in court for the hearing.

“I understand,” said Judge Lisa B. Lench, “that there has been a flood in the Twin Towers, where Mr. Weinstein is. It is now 9:40.”

The story that flows Varietystates that the hearing was originally supposed to start at 8:30 am.

It was the last court date, leading up to Weinstein’s long-awaited sexual assault and rape trial in Los Angeles. Judge Lench adjourned the hearing to August 10, but first addressed some issues related to subpoenas from defense witnesses.

Earlier this week – again according to the same source -, in another hearing of the case, Judge Lench decided to limit the amount of information that Weinstein’s defense team could obtain for the next trial and approved the motion of the indictment to quash the subpoenas of four witnesses for their correspondence, including personal emails.

These are texts dating back to 2004 with one of the alleged victims. At that hearing, however, the judge said he would not prevent the defense from serving future subpoenas to the victims and would not ask them to notify the prosecution prior to their attempted service.

On Friday morning, the discussions got a little heated with the prosecution opposing Weinstein’s lawyer, Alan Jacksonwho argued that the defense has the right to sue witnesses without giving prior notice to the prosecution.

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Weinstein, 70, was sentenced in New York in February 2020 for a criminal sexual act forcibly performing oral sex on a film and television production assistant in 2006 and raping an aspiring actress in 2013.

He was acquitted of rape and predatory sexual assault charges stemming from the actress’s allegations. Annabella Sciorra of a meeting in the mid-90s.

Weinstein is in prison in California, where he was extradited last year, awaiting the verdict for abusing five women in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills between 2004 and 2013.

In a 45-page ruling, the Court of Appeals said trial judge James Burke correctly exercised his discretion in allowing prosecutors to argue their case with the testimony of three women who accused Weinstein of raping them, but whose claims did not lead to charges in the New York case.

Weinstein’s conviction, hailed by activists and supporters as a landmark, was just as swiftly scrutinized by defense attorneys trying to get him out of what could be life imprisonment. The rules on calling additional witnesses to testify about “wrongdoing” vary by state and have been a problem in the successful appeal of Bill Cosby of his conviction for sexual abuse in Pennsylvania.

Weinstein, in all, faces eleven charges of rape and sexual assault by five women.

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