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Harvey Weinstein Indicted In LA, But Extradition From NY Is Uncertain
Harvey Weinstein during his Feb. 2020 rape trial in New York.
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John Minchillo
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AP
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Harvey Weinstein is currently serving 23 years in New York for two felony sex crimes, which his lawyer calls “a death sentence.” Prosecutors in Los Angeles now want to extradite him so he can be tried for 11 other alleged felony sex crimes.
Weinstein, 67, was indicted Monday by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office as part of an attempt to bring him from his cell in upstate New York to California.
The indictment focuses on crimes the Miramax co-founder allegedly committed against five women between 2004 and 2013. He faces four counts of forcible rape, four counts of forcible oral copulation, two counts of sexual battery and one count of sexual penetration by force.
The new indictment mirrors charges that were first filed in Los Angeles last October.
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Now the issue is whether — and when — Weinstein can be extradited. The former movie executive is currently in a maximum security facility near Buffalo. He was sentenced in March 2020, and last week appealed his conviction.
During a hearing on Monday, Weinstein appeared from the Wende Correctional Facility. One of his lawyers, Norman Effman, said the extradition request was flawed and urged a judge to keep Weinstein in New York, saying his client is losing his eyesight and teeth.
Following the hearing, Erie County D.A. John Flynn said Weinstein is trying to postpone the inevitable.
“Obviously it’s a stalling technique,” Flynn said. “He wants to keep his guy here as long as possible, and prevent him from going to California to face what he’s accused of out there.”
The judge postponed a ruling until at least the end of the month. Regarding the new charges, another Weinstein lawyer, Mark Werksman, said there is no credible evidence against him. In a statement, he said the charges were “stale, unsubstantiated, uncorroborated, uncredible allegations that arose during the hysteria of the #MeToo movement.”
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