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 awaiting retrial, or be sent to California to serve his prison sentence for rape there.
The fallen movie mogul denied his consent for California’s extradition request during a brief court hearing Thursday, and will remain behind bars in New York for now.
Harvey Weinstein appears in Queens criminal court, Thursday, May 9, 2024, in New York. Harvey Weinstein returned to court in New York City as authorities considered an extradition request from California to serve his sentence for a 2022 rape conviction. The 16-year sentence Weinstein received for raping a woman at a Los Angeles film festival in 2013 had been on ice while he served time in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
Weinstein, 72, was returned to the city’s Riker’s Island jail just days ago from a city hospital. He showed up for the hearing in a wheelchair and wearing a dark suit. Defense attorney Diana Fabi Samson said outside of court that their main concern is making sure Weinstein gets the medical care he needs.
“He’s holding up the best he can,” she said.
A judge scheduled his next appearance on the extradition question for Aug. 7 — just weeks before New York prosecutors said they could be ready to try him again.
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 a 23-year rape sentence in New York.
After the Empire State conviction was overturned late last month, Manhattan prosecutors said they’re working to retry him, and at least one of two accusers was willing to testify again.
The once-powerful former movie executive has denied the New York charges, which accused him of raping an aspiring actor in 2013 and sexually assaulting a TV and film production assistant in 2006. The 2020 verdict 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.
In vacating the convictions, 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.
Weinstein was doing his time in an upstate New York prison until he was transferred to city custody following the appeals court decision. Then he was sent to Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital, where his publicist says he was treated for pneumonia and other medical issues. He was moved back to Rikers on Monday.
Samson said outside court that California now 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,” she said.
