Harvey Weinstein Has Been Transferred To California To Face More Sexual Assault Charges

On Tuesday, former movie producer and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein was transported to California by law enforcement to face charges of rape and sexual assault in Los Angeles.

Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence in New York state after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of rape in the 3rd degree and criminal sexual assault in the 1st degree in early 2021. The movie producer’s decades-long history of sexual assault, coercion, and other predatory behavior first started to come to light after the publishing of a New York Times report in 2017. Since then, more than 90 women have come forward to accuse Weinstein of sexual assault or misconduct. In April 2021, Weinstein’s attorneys filed an appeal of his New York conviction and requested a new trial on the grounds that the Manhattan judge refused to dismiss a juror they believe was biased.

In California, Weinstein is being charged with several counts of forcible rape, forcible copulation, and eleven total counts related to sex crimes, in incidents with five different women between the years of 2004 and 2013. Weinstein’s legal team had reportedly been working to delay his transfer and keep him in New York for months, claiming that his severe medical issues would make a cross-country trip dangerous for his health. But in June, a New York judge ruled that Weinstein could be transferred after an Erie County prosecutor showed that he had declined medical treatment several times. Under the rules of interstate extradition, Los Angeles prosecutors have 120 days to bring Weinstein to trial.