Harvey Weinstein must go to California prison after retrial in New York

Harvey Weinstein will be transferred to a California prison following the retrial of his Manhattan rape and sexual assault charges after Golden State officials pushed for his extradition, prosecutors confirmed Monday.

The disgraced former film mogul will remain in New York's Rikers Island prison until his case in Manhattan – which is scheduled to be heard in November – is resolved.

Prosecutors announced the new timetable for Weinstein's time behind bars after the former Miramax boss appeared for a brief hearing in Queens Criminal Court, strapped to a wheelchair with one hand and clutching a magazine and book in the other.

“Today, defendant Harvey Weinstein was officially arraigned on an arrest warrant issued by Governor Kathy Hochul, who exercised her authority to order him to remain in New York State pending the adjudication of his case in New York County,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.

The extradition issue will not be heard in Manhattan but in a court in Queens because Queens is close to Rikers, where 72-year-old Weinstein is housed in a special wing for inmates with health problems.

Weinstein was serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York when a Los Angeles jury found him guilty in 2022 in a separate case for the rape of an Italian model at a film festival in 2013.

But the Empire State's highest court overturned New York's conviction in April, finding in a stunning split decision that the trial judge had erred in allowing testimony from three women whose allegations had no direct connection to the case.

A new trial, which the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said could also result in new charges of sexual assault, is tentatively scheduled for November 12.

After this trial is completed, Weinstein will be sent back to California because his “primary” sentence now corresponds to that in the Golden State case, Katz said.

Weinstein insisted that he never raped or sexually abused anyone, claiming that the alarming misconduct detailed by victims in his trials was all part of “consensual” encounters.

His lawyers have appealed the California case, saying that overturning the New York case will benefit his efforts to overturn that conviction as well.

“We fully expected that Mr. Weinstein would be extradited to serve his sentence in California while we await the outcome of his California appeal,” Weinstein's press agent Juda Engelmayer said in a statement.

“We are relieved that the governor signed the order allowing him to remain in New York while he awaits and plans for his retrial or a new trial in New York, should the prosecutor choose that path,” Engelmayer added. “He needs to be close to his legal team to properly litigate the case in New York, and we know he will be successful there.”

With post wires