Harvey Weinstein is extradited from New York to LA to face sex assault charges
Harvey Weinstein was being extradited to California on Tuesday to face more sex-assault charges there, New York prison officials told The Post.
The sexual predator was whisked in the morning from the
upstate Wende Correctional Facility in Erie County — where he had been serving
a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault after his conviction in
Manhattan in February 2020.
Weinstein, dressed in a white shirt and khaki pants, was
taken out of the prison in a wheelchair, said a source familiar with the
situation. The 69-year-old con’s walker was brought along for the journey.
“This morning at approximately 9:25 custody of Mr. Harvey
Weinstein was handed over to the appropriate officials for transport to the
state of California per a court order,’’ said a spokesman for the New York
Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in an email.
The fallen movie mogul faces 11 counts of rape, sexual
battery and other charges involving five women in Los Angeles — raps that could
land him another 140 years to life behind bars if convicted.
One of Weinstein’s lawyers, Norman Effman, told The Post on
Tuesday that LA authorities still have to arraign his client and will likely
unseal the indictment against him. Under an interstate agreement, LA prosecutors
have 120 days after Weinstein’s arrival to begin trial proceedings, he said.
“There won’t be a trial for four to six months,” Effman
noted.
“We are confident about success at the trial,” he added.
Effman had tried arguing to an Erie judge last month that
his client shouldn’t be extradited, saying the disgraced former Hollywood
powerhouse had multiple medical issues that couldn’t get the proper sustained
attention if he were imprisoned in LA, as opposed to at Wende.
Prosecutors vehemently denied the claim — and the judge
ultimately rejected the attempt to block Weinstein’s extradition.
But Effman insisted Tuesday, “There’s a big difference
between a jail and a prison,” noting
that prisons are for long-term inmates, while jails are for short-term stays,
affecting the quality of medical care their respective inmates get.
He said Weinstein, who suffers from issues including
diabetes and cardiac and eye problems, “isn’t going anywhere,” meaning his
client would have been secure waiting at Wende till trial in LA.
“He doesn’t need to be in LA until they pick a jury,” the
lawyer said of Weinstein.
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