Harvey Weinstein extradited to California to face rape and assault charges

Charges include forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, and sexual battery by restraint

Harvey Weinstein has been extradited from New York to California, where he will face rape and assault charges.

Weinstein’s spokesman confirmed the development to The Independent on Tuesday. The New York Department of Corrections told Reuters in a statement that Weinstein was handed over to officials for transport to California around 9.25am ET.

The former producer’s legal team had long fought his extradition, but a New York judge cleared the path for the proceedings in June. They had invoked medical reasons, citing diabetes and cardiac, back and eyesight problems.

“We will be fighting so that Harvey can receive his needed medical care and of course, so that he can be treated fairly,” Weinstein’s spokesman told The Independent. “Due process, presumption of innocence and a fair trial are all still his right.”

Weinstein was convicted in New York in 2020 of third-degree rape and a criminal sexual act and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He has appealed the conviction.

The LA charges are related to alleged attacks on five women between 2004 and 2013. They include forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual battery by restraint, and sexual penetration by use of force. If convicted, Weinstein could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Weinstein has maintained his innocence and denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.

Prior to Tuesday’s transfer, Weinstein had been held at the Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York.

Weinstein was once one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood. Allegations of sexual misconduct against him made headlines around the world in 2017 after two reports respectively published in The New York Times and The New Yorker.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report