APTOPIX_Harvey_Weinstein_Bail_Reform_72725

Harvey Weinstein arrives at court in New York City on Friday. Associated Press/Mark Lennihan

NEW YORK  — Harvey Weinstein violated his bail conditions by mishandling his electronic ankle monitor — sometimes going unaccounted for hours at a time, a New York prosecutor argued Friday.

Prosecutor Joan Illuzzi spoke at a pretrial hearing for Weinstein, who is free on $1 million bail. Prosecutors accuse him of leaving home a piece of the monitoring technology that keeps the ankle bracelet activated.

Defense attorney Donna Rotunno denied it was deliberate. She blamed “technical glitches” like dead batteries. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault.

The hearing was still underway Friday morning and a judge had yet to rule on whether Weinstein would face any penalty over the alleged violations.

The Oscar-winning producer was in court for one of many proceedings that courts across the state are scheduling to apprise defendants of reforms to New York’s bail system that are set to take effect Jan. 1.

State lawmakers passed a law this year eliminating cash bail for most nonviolent crimes. For poorer defendants facing lesser charges, these appearances could mean release from jail come the new year — or refunds for those who have posted bail.

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Those outcomes are less likely to happen in Weinstein’s case, which is scheduled to go to trial in January.

Weinstein, 67, has pleaded not guilty to charges he raped a woman in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 and performed a forcible sex act on a different woman in 2006. He is free on $1 million bail and maintains that any sexual activity was consensual.

Weinstein’s deep pockets have given him plenty of freedom as he awaits trial on the charges, which could put him in jail for the rest of his life.

Out on bail since his arrest last year, the disgraced movie mogul has been spotted hobnobbing at New York City nightclubs and getting jeered at a recent actors showcase.

But poorer defendants who have been hauled into courthouses for lesser offenses have ended up in jail if they can’t afford a bail of even a few hundred dollars.

That financial and fairness divide was one New York lawmakers were aiming to solve with sweeping bail reforms.

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Among the changes: the bail law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in April eliminates pretrial detention and money bail for the wide majority of misdemeanor and nonviolent felony cases. It also mandates that police issue court appearance tickets instead of arresting people for low-level offenses.

The reforms were motivated in part by the case of Kalief Browder, who was denied bail after he was arrested at age 16 on a charge that he stole a bag, and then spent three years in custody before the case was dropped without a trial. He later killed himself.

People charged with rape and other serious sexual offenses can still be ordered to post bail or be put into pretrial detention come the new year.

Weinstein will get a firsthand look at how the state’s judiciary is gearing up for the changes on Friday, even though they are unlikely to affect his case.

 

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