From this weblog in November,”Where can Harvey Weinstein go for a peaceful retirement?“:
Why would a 65-year-old with money want to stick around to spend the remaining years of his life as a defendant? As a thought-experiment, if Harvey doesn’t want to stick around, where can he go?
From the Washington Post today, “Harvey Weinstein charged with rape and other abuse charges in sexual assault cases”:
Harvey Weinstein was arrested … Weinstein, 66, was charged with rape, criminal sex act, sexual abuse and sexual misconduct for cases involving two women, according to the New York Police Department. … “for forcible sexual acts against two women in 2013 and 2004, respectively,”
Readers: Given that this turn of events seemed predictable, why did he stick around? Why did he not wire his money out and stuff himself into a Gulfstream G650 back in 2017? There are a lot of great things about the U.S., but being a civil and criminal lawsut defendant and, ultimately, one of our 2+ million prisoners, does not seem like a compelling reason to prefer the U.S. to other possible places to call home.
Related:
- “Morgan Freeman Is Accused of Sexual Harassment by Several Women” (nytimes, regarding the 80-year-old best known to my friends as a type-rated Citation Jet pilot (see the FAA Airmen Registry))
Perhaps he wasn’t able to develop that friendship with Putin?
I should take this time to point out that Lena Dunham warned the HRC campaign that Harvey was a rapist and it was going to come out “sooner or later”. The campaign did not seem phased. They appeared not to worry that it would come out at a time that was inconvenient for HRC…….
Prediction: Harvey is pleading not guilty. Since we have NEVER done anything as horrible as waterboard someone until they confess to the crime, the prosecution will try and make the penalty 10x if convicted by a jury as it would be in a guilty plea. The case will be decided in jury selection. If there are a lot of thought criminals, it will be a hung jury. The prosecutors won’t sue for peace because they can portray themselves as heroic fighters of the patriarchy even if they fail. If there are a lot of right thinkers, the defense will sue for peace and cut a harsh sounding deal (10 years) that is less harsh in practice(in a min security facility and out as soon as it’s out of the headlines).
Alternatively it might be have been too hard to get permanent residency in a country that does not extradite. You assume it would have been possible, but that is not a given.
Israel and France would both not extradite, I think?
We will have to see what the facts are but for now I would put my money on Harve. He said she said cases where rape is at issue generally end up as an acquittal. The victim says she was forced to perform oral sex on ole Harve and he will say that he asked her to and she consented and the jury will likely conclude who knows? A likely minority jury in Manhattan is unlikely to be hugely sympathetic to either Harve or the victim — two rich white people (am assuming the victim was white) who have lives way more comfortable than the average juror. But we will see. Skipping out is not so easy if Harve ever wants to see his young kids again, who will be the property of the meretricious Georgina till they are 18. Sounds like an unappealing cast of characters and a political prosecution that will be tough to sell to the average Manhattan juror.
Phil, just a side note Morgan Freeman is the owner of an SJ30 jet. I think he is also an investor in the company. Seems like a wonderful jet not sure why they can’t sell em though.
He doesn’t appear to be typed in the SJ30. Why isn’t it more popular? It is very cramped inside.
“Forced oral sex” on a victim possessing a full set of teeth would appear to be a risky strategy. You would think that concern over that issue would tend to deflate your, uh, confidence.
@Paddy: Weinstein does not have French citizenship. France will not extradite its citizens; non-citizens will be extradited.
Weinstein is Jewish. It’s somewhat of an open question whether Israel would extradite him. Under current Israeli law, Weinstein would have to establish a “residential connection” to Israel in order to avoid extradition. Israeli law was changed after the Samuel Sheinbein case but I think it’s still an open question. The general rule used to be a blanket ‘no,’ but then again there was Meyer Lansky.
Scott Rothstein chartered a Gulfstream 5 jet and flew to Morocco after checking extradition treaties, but he didn’t stay long and returned to the U.S. Supposedly he had already acquired Israeli citizenship.