Once-Powerful Weinstein Now Frail, Powerless Before Judge Who Warns Bad Health Won't Get Him Special Treatment
No one can escape the judgment seat of Almighty God.
But Harvey Weinstein sure seems like he’s trying to escape the judgment of James Burke.
Burke is the New York Supreme Court judge currently presiding over Weinstein’s criminal case.
A longtime supporter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Weinstein is facing five charges of rape and sexual assault dating back to 2006 and 2013. His trial is set to begin Jan. 6. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
The 67-year-old former movie executive and Democratic Party donor appeared in court this week hunched over and looking quite frail while using, for the first time in public, a walker to get around.
Skeptics immediately decried the stunt as an attempt to garner sympathy so his sentencing would be lessened.
Hoping for a Best Actor Nomination? https://t.co/CnKXkzM8fN
— Allan Margolin (@AllanMargolin) December 11, 2019
Burke seemed to agree with them.
On Wednesday, the judge raised Weinstein’s bail from $1 million to $5 million following repeated violations of his ankle monitoring system.
Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Joan Illuzzi informed the court there were 57 such occurrences in just two months.
Weinstein’s attorneys claimed that technical malfunctions were to blame and that he wasn’t breaking his bail conditions.
Burke warned Weinstein, who also knew notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, that his lack of vigor would not change how the case would proceed.
“If you have any further medical issues, the court will not be terribly understanding,” the judge said.
Weinstein’s attorneys said he needs the walker because pain from a car accident in August makes it difficult for him to get from place to place. He is scheduled to have back surgery this week, they said.
Whatever the truth behind Weinstein’s ailments is, his weakened state should remind everyone that power, fame, riches and earthly delights are but a passing thing, and they aren’t worth trading your soul for.
Psalm 103 reminds us that man’s days are “like grass.” We are here today, gone tomorrow, in other words. It’s better to have lived a good, humble and holy life than one where we give in to the countless temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil.
At the 2012 Golden Globes ceremony, Hollywood icon Meryl Streep infamously thanked Weinstein, whom she called “God,” after she won an award for portraying Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.”
Newsflash: He’s not God. He’s a mere man scarred by original sin. He was made from dust and will return to dust. He, like everyone who has ever lived, will, as Romans 14:12 states, “give an account of himself to God.”
If anything, the one Bible verse that comes to mind when reflecting on Harvey Weinstein’s life as of late is Isaiah 5:15.
“Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low.”
Pray that he turns to Jesus Christ in the years ahead.
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