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Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has asked a higher court to release him on $ 2 million bail pending the outcome of an appeal against his conviction for rape in New York.
Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence after a jury convicted him in 2006 for violently performing oral sex with former Project Runway production assistant Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi and in 2013 for raping hairstylist Jessica Mann.
However, on Friday, lawyers for the former Miramax boss cited his history of philanthropy and his deteriorating health in a request for his release on bail, according to court documents obtained by the New York Post.
Attorney Barry Kamins argues that Weinstein had ‘spotlighted a myriad of human struggles,’ including raising awareness of racial injustice in The Butler, Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom and Fruitvale Station.
“His films aroused empathy for those who suffer from disabilities that society has stigmatized and for those who have been victims of injustice,” wrote Kamins, calling the executive a “force in philanthropy.”
