An Erie County, New York, judge determined Tuesday that Harvey Weinstein is fit to stand trial in Los Angeles, where he faces several charges of rape and sexual assault, despite Weinstein’s claim that a trip to California, where he’d likely spend time in jail awaiting trial there, could be hazardous to his health.
Weinstein attended the hearing on Zoom from the Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York, where he is both serving time and being treated for “health issues” in the prison’s medical wing.
Norman Effman, Weinstein’s attorney, argued “that Weinstein was moved to Wende because of the facility’s ability to treat his health issues. Jails aren’t designed for long-term incarceration, Effman said, and because it’s unlikely a trial would occur in the next four to six months Weinstein would be sitting in a jail instead of his current prison during that time. If LA wants jurisdiction, Effman argued, they can do a virtual arraignment,” per The Hollywood Reporter. Effman argued that there was no harm in allowing Weinstein to remain in custody in New York and that the disgraced Hollywood mega-producer “would be ready to go to L.A. when they’re ready to start voir dire for jury selection.”
He added that a “copy and paste error” invalidated the prosecutor’s request for temporary custody.
Prosecutors at the hearing pointed out that Los Angeles is not a “remote outpost” and that Weinstein could receive acceptable medical care in California.
Erie County Judge Kenneth Case agreed and ordered Weinstein transferred.
“Based upon everything that I’ve read and I’ve heard, I believe that I will respectfully deny your petition, Mr. Effman,” Case said, per THR. “If California doesn’t come to pick up Mr. Weinstein within a reasonable period of time, certainly, come back to see me. But based on all of the circumstances, and as I say the paperwork and argument I have heard, I respectfully deny the request.”
Case had already approved Weinstein’s extradition — back on April 30th of this year — but Weinstein’s attorneys filed suit to delay the transfer. At this point, Weinstein’s only hope to stave off trial in Los Angeles is intervention from New York governor Andrew Cuomo, an unlikely scenario.
Los Angeles is, of course, the second major city to prosecute Weinstein for sex crimes. He is currently serving a 23-year sentence in New York after being convicted for two felony sex offenses. In California, he will face “a total of four counts each of forcible oral copulation and forcible rape, two counts of sexual battery by restraint and one count of sexual penetration by use of force, for crimes dating from 2004 to 2013 involving five different women,” according to The New York Times. The eleven charges carry the potential for additional “decades in prison,” the outlet noted.
A grand jury, The Daily Wire reported, handed down a “secretive indictment” against Weinstein back in April.
The indictment is virtually identical to the criminal complaint, which had been filed in January 2020 by former DA Jackie Lacey,” Fox News reported at the time. “The disgraced movie mogul, who is already serving a 23-year sentence in New York for rape and sexual assault, faces 11 counts in California, including rape and sexual battery involving five incidents that allegedly took place between 2004 and 2013. If convicted, he faces up to 140 years behind bars.”
Los Angeles prosecutors said earlier this year that they would like to put Weinstein on trial as soon as possible. “Erie County prosecutors said that Los Angeles officials would probably not transfer Weinstein to California until the end of this month of the first half of July,” Deadline reported.