Convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein’s sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday. In the lead-up to it, the 67-year-old’s lawyers and publicist are pulling out all the stops in the hopes that their client gets the minimum of five years.
Weinstein’s publicist Juda Engelmayer told Law&Crime Network host Jesse Weber in an interview on Tuesday that Weinstein “understands what he is facing.” One the sentencing is complete, Engelmayer said, you can expect the appeal phase to begin. But Weber wanted to know if Weinstein has regrets for crimes a jury found he committed. Weinstein has no such regret because he didn’t commit criminal acts, but he does have “plenty of regret for how he treated people,” Engelmayer said.
The Q&A:
Weber: Look I have to ask, you know– there’s a situation–we cover a number of different trials here on the network and there are people who plead not guilty constantly. But when they are ultimately found guilty they do take a moment and they do apologize, they do accept responsibility. Now, Mr. Weinstein has always said that he is innocent of what he is being charged with, but has there been a sense since he was found guilty that he does want to offer his repentance in a way or say he’s sorry or say I understand the verdict and I’m sorry if I hurt anybody?
Engelmayer: Yes, 100-percent. He has become very humble, very self-reflective, he’s been doing that over the past two years as well. But there’s a difference: to say there’s regret for a criminal act, we maintain were no criminal acts. Does he regret treating people poorly, does he regret putting his craft in front of the human beings in front of him and forcing people to work in hostile environments because he wanted to get what he wanted when he wanted it? Yes. He understands what kind of boss he was, he understands what kind of workplace he fostered, he understands what kind of abuse he gave to people in the sense where he was belligerent and angry all the time and demanded things his way. Did he do any criminal acts? No. So when you ask for an apology or regret on that he doesn’t have regret for a criminal act. He has plenty of regret for how he treated people. If he could do it again, he would try to be the person — that I see over the past couple of days visiting him in prison as well — he has been a nicer guy, more humble guy.
“It’s hard to say regret for a criminal act, because you don’t want to do that. He’s facing an LA thing. There is no apology for a criminal act, but there’s an apology for being the kind of person he was,” Engelmayer said.
On Monday, Weinstein’s lawyers submitted their sentencing recommendation to Judge James M. Burke in the third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act case. While asking for the minimum, they cited Weinstein’s acquittal on the most serious charges, his age and declining health, his deep involvement in the lives of his 6-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter, his various “charitable endeavors,” the consequences he has already experienced (“And on top of it all, he had to endure descriptions of his appearance, his hygiene, his genitalia, and the most deeply personal and intimate matters become the subject of national and international scrutiny and intrigue…)”, and the “need to avoid a de facto life sentence.”
Weinstein faces up to 29 years behind bars in the New York case alone. It seems people are even going to be placing bets on how long Weinstein’s sentence might be, whether he’ll cry in court, and what color tie he’s going to wear.
The Los Angeles case Engelmayer referenced is expected to move forward.
You can watch the interview in the player above.
[Image via Law&Crime Network]
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