Harvey Weinstein will not return to California until New York retrial is complete, DA says
Harvey Weinstein is set to remain behind bars in New York as his sex crimes retrial looms.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said on Monday that the disgraced movie mogul, 72, will stay in New York until his case in the state is adjudicated. Weinstein is awaiting a retrial in New York after his rape conviction was overturned there earlier this year.
The former film producer will be returned to California, where he was also convicted of rape, after the completion of his New York case. "He will serve the California sentence first, as it is now his primary sentence," Katz said.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Weinstein's publicist Juda Engelmayer said his team is "relieved" that he has been allowed to remain in New York, rather than be extradited to California, as he plans for his retrial.
"He needs to be near his legal team to properly adjudicate the New York matter, where we know he will prevail," Engelmayer said.
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A New York appeals court overturned Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction in April, finding that the judge in his case erred by admitting "irrelevant" testimony from women whose allegations were not a part of the case. He was granted a retrial, which is expected to begin in November.
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The appeals court's decision did not affect Weinstein's 2022 rape conviction in California, for which he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. In his New York case, the "Shakespeare in Love" producer was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
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Last month, a representative for Weinstein confirmed to USA TODAY that he was taken to the Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward in New York City to be treated for "conditions that he is still afflicted with on a daily basis such as diabetes, high blood pressure, spinal stenosis, fluid on his heart and lungs and various other conditions." He also tested positive for COVID-19 and contracted double pneumonia.
Contributing: Jack Queen, Reuters; Jay Stahl, Edward Segarra and Taijuan Moorman, USA TODAY