NEW YORK.- Harvey Weinstein will remain imprisoned in NY while the court deliberates whether he should remain in a city jail awaiting a new trial, or whether he will be sent to California to carry out his sentence prison for rape in that state.
The disgraced movie mogul, who appeared at the hearing in a wheelchair and wearing a dark suit, did not accept California’s extradition request in a brief court hearing Thursday. Weinstein, 72, will remain behind bars at the Rikers Island prison, where he returned after being admitted to a city hospital just a few days ago.
Now, California needs to obtain an arrest warrant signed by the governor within 90 days, Judge Joanne Watters said.
“They are not in a position to extradite Mr. Weinstein because they have not done what they need to do,” Diana Fabi Samson, Weinstein’s attorney, said outside court after the appearance.
So far, spokespersons for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office have not responded to an email seeking comment.
New sentence
Watters scheduled Weinstein’s next extradition appearance for Aug. 7, a few weeks before New York prosecutors said they may be ready to try him again.
The 16-year sentence Weinstein received in 2023 for raping a woman at the 2013 Los Angeles film festival has been on hold while he served a 23-year sentence for rape in New York.
After the suspension of the New York sentence at the end of last month, Manhattan prosecutors say they are already working to retry him, and at least one of the two accusers is willing to testify again.
The once-powerful film executive has denied charges filed in New York, accusing him of raping an aspiring actress in 2013 and sexually assaulting a television and film production assistant in 2006.
The 2020 verdict was considered at the time a milestone of the #MeToo movement, an era that began in 2017 with a barrage of accusations against Weinstein.
Source: AP
