Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein violated the conditions of his bail, failing to wear part of his required electronic-tracking device and allowing its battery to expire several times, prosecutors argued Friday. During a pre-trial hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court, Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi asked a judge to increase Weinstein’s bail from $1 million to $5 million after he failed to wear an electronic transmitter that works with his ankle bracelet on “numerous” occasions. “It is the people’s position that none of those ‘bracelet gone’ violations were accidental,” Illuzzi said.
Weinstein’s lawyer, Donna Rotunno, denied the violations were deliberate and claimed the bracelet was experiencing “technical glitches.” “It has nothing to do with any manipulation of the bracelet,” Rotunno told reporters after leaving court, though she acknowledged her client forgot part of the device when he left the house on at least one occasion. “The minute he realized he forgot it, he made a phone call.”
Weinstein, 67, has pleaded not guilty to several charges alleging he sexually assaulted two women—one in 2006 and another in 2013. Judge James Burke is expected to make a decision about the bail increase next Wednesday.
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