(New York) Harvey Weinstein will remain behind bars in New York, as a court determines whether he should remain in a city jail awaiting a retrial in a rape case, or whether he should be returned to California to continue serving his prison sentence.
The fallen movie mogul refused consent to a California extradition request related to another rape conviction during a brief court hearing Thursday. Weinstein will continue to be detained in New York while the extradition process takes place.
Weinstein, who was released from a city hospital a few days ago, appeared at the hearing in a wheelchair and wearing a dark suit. Defense attorney Diana Fabi Samson later said outside court that their main concern was ensuring Weinstein received necessary medical care while he remained in custody in New York.
Samson described the court appearance Thursday as normal procedure and said California must first produce a warrant signed by the governor.
“They are not able to extradite Mr. Weinstein because they did not do what they were supposed to do,” lawyer Diana Fabi Samson said in court.
His next appearance is scheduled for August 7.
The 16-year prison sentence Weinstein received in 2023 for raping a woman at a Los Angeles film festival in 2013 remained suspended while he served time behind bars in New York after being convicted guilty of rape in Manhattan in 2020. But the New York conviction was overturned late last month, overturning his 23-year sentence.
The 72-year-old nevertheless remained in custody in New York while the Manhattan district attorney worked to arrange a new trial for him. At a hearing last week, prosecutors said they could be ready as early as September and that at least one of the two alleged victims was willing to testify again.
In the case, the once-powerful former movie executive is accused of raping an aspiring actress in 2013 and sexually assaulting a television and film production assistant in 2006. He denies the accusations.
In overturning the conviction, New York’s highest court found that the trial judge had prejudiced Weinstein by making inappropriate decisions, including letting other women testify about allegations he was not accused of.
The 2020 conviction was hailed at the time as a milestone in the #metoo movement, an era that began in 2017 with a flood of allegations against Weinstein.
Weinstein was sent to serve his sentence in a prison in upstate New York. After being transferred to municipal custody following the appeals court ruling, he was sent to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, where his publicist says he was treated for pneumonia and other problems medical. He was transferred to the Rikers Island jail complex on Monday.