Harvey Weinstein will remain locked up in New York as a court works out whether he should stay in a city jail while he awaits a retrial in a rape case, or be sent back to California to continue serving a prison sentence.
The fallen movie mogul denied his consent for an extradition request from California related to a separate rape conviction during a brief court hearing on Thursday.
Weinstein will continue to be held in New York as the extradition process plays out.
Weinstein, released from a city hospital days ago, showed up for the hearing in a wheelchair and wearing a dark suit. Defence attorney Diana Fabi Samson said later outside court that their main concern was making sure Weinstein gets the required medical care while he remains in custody in New York.
Ms Samson described the court appearance on Thursday as normal procedure and said California first needs to produce a warrant signed by the governor.
“They are not in a position to extradite Mr Weinstein because they have not done what they need to do,” she said outside court.
His next appearance is set for August 7.
The 16-year sentence Weinstein received in 2023 for raping a woman at a 2013 Los Angeles film festival had been on ice while he served time behind bars in New York after being found guilty of rape in Manhattan in 2020.
The 72-year-old has nevertheless remained in New York custody while Manhattan’s district attorney works to retry him. At a hearing last week, prosecutors said they could be ready as soon as September, and that at least one of two alleged victims was willing to testify again.
In that case, the once powerful former movie executive is accused of raping an aspiring actor in 2013 and sexually assaulting a TV and film production assistant in 2006. He denies the charges.
In vacating the conviction, New York’s highest court found that the trial judge prejudiced Weinstein with improper rulings, including by letting other women testify about allegations he was not charged with.
The 2020 conviction was heralded at the time as a milestone in the MeToo movement, an era that began in 2017 with a flood of allegations against Weinstein.
Weinstein was sent to serve his sentence in an upstate New York state prison.
After being transferred to city custody following the appeals court decision, he was sent to Manhattan’s Bellevue Hospital, where his publicist says he was treated for pneumonia and other medical issues. He was moved to the city’s Rikers Island jail complex on Monday.
