NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein will remain in custody in New York in the meantime awaiting a new trial charged with rape and sexual assault in Manhattan, prosecutors confirmed Monday as the former movie mogul made a brief court appearance related to California’s request to extradite him there.
But after the New York case is concluded, he will return to California to serve his pending 16-year prison term for a separate rape conviction there first, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.
“Today, defendant Harvey Weinstein was formally arraigned pursuant to a gubernatorial order issued by Governor Kathy Hochul, exercising her authority to have him remain in New York State until his case in New York County is resolved,” Katz said. “He will serve the California sentence first, as that is now his primary sentence.”
Weinstein, who has denied raping or sexually assaulting anyone, was convicted in Los Angeles 2022 while he was already serving 23 years in prison in New York. His 2020 conviction in Manhattan was was thrown out this spring by the state Supreme Court, which ruled that the judge in the original trial unfairly allowed testimony against Weinstein based on allegations that were not part of the case.
The new trial in Manhattan is tentatively scheduled for November.
The 72-year-old Weinstein, with one hand tied to his wheelchair and another holding a book and a newspaper, appeared in Queens Criminal Court for less than five minutes on Monday as his lawyers agreed that he will remain in the nearby Rikers Island prison complex. . Weinstein has returned there after being hospitalized last month for health problems including covid-19 and pneumonia in both lungs.
The extradition case has taken place in Queens, rather than Manhattan, court because of its proximity to Rikers Island.
Prosecutor in Manhattan said last month that they are aiming to file new sexual assault charges against Weinstein but have not provided more details, nor a timeline for filing the potential new charges.
Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala suggested at the time that prosecutors’ talk of new accusers raised questions about the strength of their current case.