Prosecutor calls Harvey Weinstein’s walker ‘a prop’
A prosecutor at Harvey Weinstein’s rape and sex-abuse trial called the disgraced movie mogul’s walker “a prop” during a heated courtroom exchange with Weinstein’s defense lawyers Tuesday.
“At times Mr. Weinstein has walked up this aisle without the walker. The walker has been there as a prop,” Assistant DA Joan Illuzzi-Orbon told Justice James Burke during a court conference in Manhattan Supreme Court after the jury was dismissed for the day.
The comment prompted defense lawyer Damon Cheronis to bark: “It is not a prop! Enough!”
Moments before, Cheronis argued that the prosecution should not be allowed to discuss Weinstein’s physical condition during its closing arguments in the case since Burke on Monday shot down a request by the defense to have Weinstein’s doctor testify about his medical condition.
“We are assuming the government will not make any statement during their closing argument about Mr. Weinstein’s current physical condition or that he’s using a walker for a certain reason or he’s trying to inure sympathy with the jury,” Cheronis said. “That would be improper since we could not call his doctor to explain his medical condition.”
The judge then said, “Certainly the walker hasn’t been used in front of the jury or I think even the jury pool.”
Since the start of the high-profile trial, the fallen Hollywood titan has hobbled in and out of the courthouse using a walker — an aid he took up after undergoing spinal surgery in December.
Illuzi-Orbon later concluded, “Nevertheless judge, I’m not going to argue that Mr. Weinstein does not have physical ailments right now, but I can argue that that is not the man these witnesses saw … that is not the man who they dealt with.”
The judge eventually said, “Fine, but leave the walker out.”
Earlier Tuesday, the defense rested its case and closing arguments are slated to begin later this week.
As Weinstein exited the courtroom for the day using his walker, a reporter asked him about Illuzzi-Orbon calling his walker a “prop,” prompting Weinstein to smile and sarcastically say, “Sure…I’ll have a race with you.”
Weinstein, 67, is facing life in prison on rape and predatory sexual assault charges related to incidents involving one-time aspiring actress Jessica Mann, former “Project Runway” production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi and “The Sopranos” actress Annabella Sciorra.