Harvey Weinstein was expected in a New York City courtroom Thursday as authorities consider California’s extradition request to serve his pending sentence for a 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles. The 16-year sentence Weinstein received in 2023 for raping a woman at a 2013 Los Angeles film festival had been on ice while he served time behind bars in New York after being found guilty of rape in Manhattan in 2020. But the Empire State conviction was overturned late last month, negating its 23-year sentence.
Quick Read
Harvey Weinstein Returns to Court in NYC After Hospital Stay
- Situation: Harvey Weinstein is back in a New York City courtroom following a hospital stay, as proceedings related to his extradition to California commence.
- Background: Weinstein faces extradition to serve a 16-year sentence for a 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles, which was issued after his 2020 rape conviction in New York was overturned last month.
- Legal Proceedings: The hearing focuses on California’s request for extradition, held in Queens criminal court. Weinstein remains in custody in New York as local authorities prepare for a potential retrial.
- Health and Custody: Recently hospitalized at Bellevue for pneumonia among other health issues, Weinstein was transferred back to Rikers Island prior to today’s court appearance.
- Significance: This development marks another chapter in the legal battles of the former film producer, whose cases have been central to the #MeToo movement’s focus on sexual misconduct and abuse of power within the entertainment industry.
The Associated Press has the story:
Harvey Weinstein won’t be sent back to California as he awaits NY rape retrial
Newslooks- NEW YORK (AP) —
Harvey Weinstein will remain locked up in New York as a court works out whether he should stay in a city jail while he awaits a retrial in a rape case, or be sent back to California to continue serving a prison sentence.
The fallen movie mogul denied his consent for an extradition request from California related to a separate rape conviction during a brief court hearing Thursday. Weinstein will continue to be held in New York as the extradition process plays out.
Weinstein, released from a city hospital days ago, showed up for the hearing in a wheelchair and wearing a dark suit. Defense attorney Diana Fabi Samson said later outside of court that their main concern was making sure Weinstein gets needed medical care while he remains in custody in New York.
“He’s holding up the best he can,” she said.
Samson described the court appearance Thursday as normal procedure and said California first needs to produce a warrant signed by the governor.
“They are not in a position to extradite Mr. Weinstein because they have not done what they need to do,” attorney Diana Fabi Samson said outside court.
His next appearance is set for Aug. 7.
Harvey Weinstein was expected in a New York City courtroom Thursday as authorities consider California’s extradition request to serve his pending sentence for a 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles.
The 16-year sentence Weinstein received in 2023 for raping a woman at a 2013 Los Angeles film festival had been on ice while he served time behind bars in New York after being found guilty of rape in Manhattan in 2020. But the Empire State conviction was overturned late last month, negating its 23-year sentence.
The hearing in Queens criminal court on Thursday morning, days after Weinstein left a city hospital, is related to California’s request, according to prosecutors and defense attorneys.
The 72-year-old has nevertheless remained in New York custody while Manhattan’s district attorney works to retry him. At a hearing last week, prosecutors said they could be ready as soon as September, and that at least one of two alleged victims was willing to testify again.
In that case, the once powerful former movie mogul is accused of raping an aspiring actor in 2013 and sexually assaulting a TV and film production assistant in 2006. He denies the charges.
In vacating the conviction, New York’s highest court found that the trial judge prejudiced Weinstein with improper rulings, including by letting other women testify about allegations he wasn’t charged with.
The 2020 conviction was heralded at the time as a milestone in the #MeToo movement, an era that began in 2017 with a flood of allegations against Weinstein.
Weinstein was sent to serve his sentence in an upstate New York state prison. After being transferred to city custody following the appeals court decision, he was sent to Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital, where his publicist says he was treated for pneumonia and other medical issues. He was moved to the city’s Rikers Island jail complex on Monday.
