Eric Weinberg, a veteran writer-producer on the TV show “Scrubs,” was ordered on Tuesday to stand trial on 28 charges of rape and sexual assault.
Weinberg, 63, who also wrote on “Californication” and “Politically Incorrect” with Bill Maher, faces multiple life sentences if convicted.
Judge Charlaine Olmedo heard testimony from nine women at a preliminary hearing that ran for more than two weeks in late April and early May. The women told similar stories of being approached by Weinberg in public places, where he asked if they were interested in modeling.
Many of the women testified that agreed to meet Weinberg at his home, where he would begin to take photos. At some point, the encounter would become sexual, as Weinberg either began to remove their clothing or groped himself.
Several of the women — identified in court as Jane Does — said they became terrified when they realized the photo shoot was just a pretext to isolate them and sexually assault them.
“I was afraid he was going to kill me,” one of the women said.
Said another: “I thought maybe he would attack me, or rape me, or worst-case scenario: death… No one knew where I was. So if something had happened there would be no trace of me.”
Four of the women testified that Weinberg choked them during the encounters. One said that he put both hands on her throat.
“I just remember thinking I was going to die,” she testified.
Weinberg met one of the women on Model Mayhem, a professional site for models and photographers, and another on OK Cupid. He approached the others at grocery stores or coffee shops, or, in one case, while he was waiting to pick up his kid from middle school.
Weinberg is facing three counts of forcible rape, as well as numerous counts of forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by force and sexual battery.
Olmedo dismissed four other counts on Tuesday, finding that three of them fell outside the statute of limitations, and that there was not enough evidence to take the other one to trial.
She ruled that there was sufficient evidence to hold a trial on the remaining 28 charges, pertaining to eight alleged victims from 2014 to 2019.
Weinberg has been in jail since October 2022, when another judge revoked his bail. Olmedo denied a defense request to grant bail on Tuesday, finding that he had been accused of “predatory” behavior and could pose a risk to the public if released.
Robin Sax, Weinberg’s attorney, argued that he should be allowed to serve house arrest with an ankle monitor and restrictions on his internet use. She noted that if he tried to meet up with a woman he met on the street, she would Google him and see numerous news articles about his sex charges.
“This is not a case of Weinberg hiding in the bushes and jumping out,” Sax said. “The idea that the public would be unsafe from some bogeyman out there is just not the case.”
Sax also argued that the case got started because of Weinberg’s divorce. In the course of a custody battle, his ex-wife had hired a private investigator to prove his infidelities and track down various accusers, Sax explained.
“Had he stopped fighting the family law case, we probably wouldn’t be here in my view,” Sax said.
Marlene Martinez, the prosecutor, disputed that — noting that two women had gone to police in 2014, without any connection to the custody fight.
She also said that Weinberg is “much more dangerous” than someone lurking in the bushes.
“He will do what it takes to get these women alone in vulnerable places and rape them,” Martinez said. “There is nothing here to say he will not use other methods of deception. We’ve seen through the years he’s gotten better at it.”
At the preliminary hearing, one of the women testified that before agreeing to go to Weinberg’s house, she received six or seven calls from other models who vouched for him.
Another woman testified that after Weinberg sexually assaulted her, he asked her to leave a voicemail for another woman who was “nervous” about whether to come.
The woman said did what she had to do in order to leave, and so she left a message saying, “Yeah it’s fun, best of luck.”
She said she would later have nightmares about Weinberg standing over her.
When she saw the news of his arrest, she decided to go to the police.
“In support of the other women that had to go through similar experiences, I felt that it was necessary for me to come forward,” she said, “whether that was for myself or just to support them.”
Weinberg is set for an arraignment on June 4. No trial date has been scheduled.
