Yesterday morning, Al Goldstein arrived at court in an attempt to rescind his guilty plea in the case regarding the alleged harassment of his ex-wife, only to pass into a coma moments before his hearing began. He claims he came to nine hours later to find that he had been "shuffled through the system" while unconscious - and as a result his guilty plea stands and he is not allowed to leave the state of New York until he checks in with his parole officer.
The 67-year-old publisher of Screw pleaded guilty in January to three counts of aggravated harassment and one count of stalking his ex-wife Gena Goldstein.
"The last thing I remember was being in the hallway of the court and then I went into a coma. I'm on nineteen medicines because I'm infected, and I've had surgery, and I'm a diabetic," Goldstein told AVN.com.
"What I've been told by other people is that I was wheeled in unconscious and I was put through the system as if I were conscious. This is so illegal," said Goldstein.
The case is further complicated by the fact that Goldstein's lawyer, Charles DeStano, had recently removed himself from the case citing his objection to Goldstein's attempt to take the case to trial and recent editorials in Screw regarding the case which he objected to.
State Supreme Court Justice Renee White said at the time of Goldstein's guilty plea that she would sentence Goldstein to five years of probation and sign an order of protection requiring him to stay away from his ex-wife.
He admitted making obscene telephone calls to ex-wife and asking readers of his magazine and viewers of his X-rated cable television show to call her. However, Goldstein questions whether that was really harassment or not.
"She claims that she got phone calls at work. Well, she needs to prove that those calls were the result of my asking people to call her at work. And is that still harassment?" asked Goldstein.
Goldstein indicated that he plans on fighting the decision.
Goldstein is suffering from chronic osteomyelitis of the maxilla (upper jaw), a severe and sometimes incapacitating infection of bone and bone marrow. He has already started an agressive treament known as complete surgical debridement which is required for persistent drainage or flare-ups that continue despite antibiotic treatment. The entire treatement is expected to take a year to a year-and-a-half to complete.
Goldstein cites the medicines he takes to combat osteomyelitis, a recent surgery, and his diabetes as contributing factors towards his comatose condition in court.
Employee's of Goldstein's at Screw note that it is not uncommon to see Goldstein undergo similar "black outs" while at work, though he has never been out for so long.
