Weinstein Begs Judge to Get Him Out of Rikers

Harvey Weinstein said he was "begging the court" on Wednesday to move up his April 15 trial date because the disgraced movie mogul isn't sure he can survive till then in New York City's Rikers Island jail complex. Calling the jail a "hell hole," ABC News reports, Weinstein told Judge Curtis Farber: "I can't hold on anymore. I'm holding on because I want justice for myself and I want this to be over with." The court date is for a retrial on rape charges and will include a new accusation from a woman not involved in the first case, Farber said. The accuser says Weinstein forced oral sex on her at a hotel in 2006, per NBC News. Weinstein lost an attempt Wednesday to have that charge dismissed.

The judge said he couldn't hold the trial sooner because he's committed to presiding over a murder case. Weinstein, 72, at times in a raised voice, didn't give up. "I beg you to switch your case and do so out of clemency," he said. Farber eventually said he'd try to start Weinstein's trial a week sooner. The defendant, who has cancer and had emergency heart surgery in September, said the jail conditions are complicating his health issues. He's already suing the city and its Department of Correction, accusing them of medical negligence. "Every day I'm at Rikers Island it's a mystery to me how I'm still walking," he told Farber from his wheelchair. (More Harvey Weinstein stories.)