Harvey Weinstein's defense attorney says movie mogul was 'shaken' by severity of sentence
The judge essentially gave Harvey Weinstein a life sentence, says attorney Donna Rotunno.
Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is likely to die in prison while serving out his 23-year sentence, his attorney Donna Rotunno told "Bill Hemmer Reports" Wednesday.
Weinstein, who has been accused of violating scores of women, was convicted last month of raping a woman in a New York City hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on another woman at his apartment in 2006. He faced a maximum of 29 years in prison but was given 23.
"I think the number is too large," Rotunno told Hemmer. "I think it's too large for the evidence that we heard and I think it's too large for the charges that the jury found him guilty of."
"I think with the number handed down to him today, he won't see the light of day -- especially given his health."
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Rotunno said Weinstein was visibly "shaken" following his sentencing, adding that while a minimum sentence of five years seemed unlikely, "none of us expected a number that big."
"Realistically, I didn't think he [Judge James Burke] was going to give him the minimum even though I thought he should ... but that number I think surprised all of us," she added.
Weinstein, who turns 68 next week, used a walker throughout the trial following recent back surgeries. After his Feb. 24 conviction, he split time between a hospital and a jail infirmary unit and had a stent inserted last week to unblock an artery.
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While Weinstein still faces similar charges in California and will soon stand trial there, Rotunno said she can't see "how much California really matters" given Wednesday's sentence and Weinstein's diminishing health.
"With numbers so large and Harvey's health, I don't know how he leaves."
"I think it becomes ceremonial obviously," she added. "If we are successful on appeal, it may make a bigger difference. But with numbers so large and Harvey's health, I don't know how he leaves [prison in New York]."
When asked whether Weinstein would consider a plea deal that would allow him to serve concurrent sentences, Rotunno dismissed the question, saying the disgraced producer "won't see the light of day," suggesting she has little faith that Weinstein will live to complete the 23-year sentence.
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"Even if at this juncture if they offered him a sentence that was concurrent, again I think with the number that has been handed down to him today, he won't see the light of day especially given his health," she said. "So I don't even know if that's a practical or necessary conversation to have."
Immediately after the sentencing, Rotunno and co-counsel Damon Cheronis criticized Burke's decision, blaming him and the media for essentially convicting Weinstein in the court of public opinion despite the actual case they made in his defense.
"Judge [James] Burke was already prepared to say and do exactly what he did, no matter what we said today," Rotunno told reporters outside the courthouse.
She further chastised Burke’s "total unfairness" and "complete lack of acknowledgment of what the facts in this case actually showed."
"I think he caved to the movement, the pressure," Rotunno told Hemmer, referring to the #MeToo movement, which was sparked when the slew of accusations against Weinstein first came to light.
"He had his mind made up and that's what he was going to do."
She added, "I think what it does show is, even though the jury rejected the more serious claims, the judge essentially gave him what amounts to a life sentence anyway, so the argument is that the sentence doesn't fit with [what]
Fox News' Marta Dhanis, Sasha Savitsky, and Tyler McCarthy contributed to this report.
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