BEVERLY HILLS—A New York judge ruled on Tuesday, June 15, that Harvey Weinstein will be extradited to California to stand trial for sexual assault charges. Weinstein is being charged with sexually assaulting five women in the Beverly Hills and Los Angeles area.
Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case ruled that Los Angeles authorities could claim Weinstein into their custody. This will put into motion the second trial focused on Weinstein sexually abusing actresses and models in the California region.
Weinstein’s lawyers indicated he has two surgeries scheduled in New York to address several undisclosed medical issues and that he is nearly blind. Case denied Weinstein’s lawyers’ request to keep him in New York to receive proper medical treatment.
He is expected to be extradited to California in mid-July, where he will face an 11 count indictment on the charges of assaulting several women from 2004 to 2013. No details on an actual trail date has been disclosed.
In March 2020, Weinstein was convicted and sentenced to 23 years in New York state prison after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of rape and committing a criminal sexual act. Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey filed multiple counts of sexual assault against the Miramax movie studio co-founder.
In October 2020, prosecutors filed six more charges against Weinstein involving two additional victims. In April 2021, a Los Angeles County grand jury indicted Weinstein on four counts of forcible rape, four counts of forcible oral copulation, two counts of sexual battery, and one count of sexual penetration by force.
In the first incident, Weinstein allegedly raped a woman at a hotel in Beverly Hills between September 2004 and September 2005. In the second case, the defendant allegedly raped a woman two times in November 2009 and November 2010 at a hotel in Beverly Hills
All five women testified against Weinstein during the hearings. He has denied all allegations and is appealing his conviction. At least 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual abuse across the U.S. and Europe.
Weinstein’s history with sexual assault was first introduced to the public in October 2017 when The New York Times published a detailed story with years of allegations from women who came forward. Among those were actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd. The article sparked more women coming forward with alleged accounts of sexual harassment and rape, leading to investigations.
Many women had reported that Weinstein would force them to watch him naked and massage him as well as using sexual favors for career advancements. James has been representing the victims’ case in a class action lawsuit filed in 2018 involving Weinstein and The Weinstein company that instilled a “hostile” work environment.
Victims of Weinstein are expected to receive compensation in a settlement of $19 million as announced by New York Attorney General Letitia James on June 30, 2020 in a press release from her office. “The agreement ensures that women who experienced a hostile work environment, sexual harassment, and gender-based discrimination while working at The Weinstein Company, as well as sexual abuse by Harvey Weinstein, are entitled to obtain restitution, by creating a $18,875,000 victims’ compensation fund,” said James.
Weinstein is known for producing Oscar-nominated films like “Pulp Fiction” and “Shakespeare in Love.”
