Harvey Weinstein could be extradited to California for Los Angeles case

As Harvey Weinstein faces a retrial in New York, Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed an extradition warrant for the disgraced former movie mogul and convicted rapist to be extradited to California.

Weinstein successfully had his rape and sex crime convictions in New York overturned by the state's Court of Appeals in April. Last month, a judge tentatively set a new date for his retrial to begin in November. Meanwhile, he remains behind bars on the East Coast since his convictions in California still stand. He was convicted of three sex offenses in Los Angeles in December 2022.

Last week, Weinstein was hospitalized at Bellevue Hospital Prison Ward at Rikers Island after testing positive for COVID-19 and contracting double pneumonia. It was one of multiple times he has been hospitalized while incarcerated.

Guilty verdicts in LA and New York

In March 2020, he was sentenced to 23 years in prison after a New York jury found him guilty of third-degree rape and first-degree criminal sexual act. It was the first time he was convicted of criminal charges following allegations made against him by dozens of women, first reported in an investigation by the New York Times and in later stories by The New Yorker in late 2017. 

In the days following, the accusations against the then-powerful Hollywood producer helped to set off the #MeToo movement, which would evolve conversations around sexual assault and women's rights. 

Newsom signed the extradition warrant on June 19 requesting Weinstein be transferred to California. The Los Angeles Times first reported the warrant on Wednesday. 

It seeks his transfer for the charges he was convicted of in Los Angeles, including forcible rape, forcible acts of sexual penetration and forcible oral copulation. During the LA trial, an actress testified he assaulted her inside a Beverly Hills hotel room. Three months after the guilty verdict, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison. 

He appealed his Los Angeles conviction in June.

In the LA case, Weinstein was acquitted of one charge and and the jury did not reach a unanimous decision for three other charges. One of those counts related to Jennifer Siebel, a filmmaker who is married to Newsom and testified during Weinstein's trial that he assaulted her. When Weinstein's conviction was appealed in April, the governor spoke out and told reporters bluntly: "He's a rapist."

"Harvey Weinstein is a stone-cold predator. He's a rapist, twice convicted. Not once, twice," Newsom said

"He should never see the light of day. Period, full stop," he said. 

The governor issues an extradition warrant after a prosecuting authority in California requests the transfer of someone into the state. The state's Department of Justice must also review that request before it arrives to the desk of the governor, whose legal team must also look it over. 

The warrant formally requests the governor of the state where the fugitive is being held to release them to the state of California. In this case, of course, the state of New York's Gov. Kathy Hochul would receive that extradition request. 

In a statement, Gov. Newsom's office said the governor of the state where a fugitive is being held may decide to hold them there until the resolution of pending charges or any sentencing they may receive from convictions. That would mean that Weinstein could be held until the completion of his retrial in New York, which has tentatively been set for Nov. 12.

Why his Los Angeles convictions could stand a better chance

Last month, prosecutors in New York said they planned to bring forth new evidence before a grand jury as they seek a new indictment against Weinstein. They have also said they are expecting to introduce new witnesses as more women have agreed to testify in a retrial. 

In overturning Weinstein's New York convictions, the state's Court of Appeals ruled that prosecutors brought forth allegations for which Weinstein was never charged — something that's barred by a legal precedent in New York called the "Molineux rule." It's meant to be a constitutional protection for defendants, ensuring their right to due process and a fair trial.

Appeals Court Judge Jenny Rivera wrote in the court's majority opinion that New York prosecutors failed to give Weinstein a fair trial by introducing "irrelevant, prejudicial, and untested allegations of prior bad acts."

"The remedy for these egregious errors is a new trial," Judge Rivera wrote.

At the time, Weinstein's attorney Arthur Aidala applauded the ruling.

"We knew Harvey Weinstein did not get a fair trial," he said. "There are some people who are unpopular in society but we still have to apply the law fairly."

In the wake of the appeal, Gloria Allred criticized the court's decision and said Weinstein's Los Angeles convictions would stand a better chance due to a difference in the two states' legal standards and laws. She has been representing one of the victims in Weinstein's New York case.

While New York bars the introduction of allegations which never resulted in criminal charges, the state of California has a law in place for allowing prosecutors to do just that — specifically in sex crime cases. Under Evidence Code section 1108, the state allows prosecutors to bring up allegations for which a defendant has not been charged in the prosecution of sex offenses.

"In California, we have a specific statute," Allred said, referring to the statute. "I think it's important for the New York legislature to pass a specific statute in New York, which more clearly defines the admission of prior bad acts, witnesses and their testimony in New York -- and is more protective of victims' rights."

A month later, a pair of New York lawmakers proposed legislation that would allow the admission of such evidence in sexual assault and rape cases. They released a statement stating the state needs such a new law, referencing Weinstein's appeal weeks earlier.

"The recent, successful appeal of Harvey Weinstein highlights the need to update the state's criminal law to allow victims who have been silenced the ability to come forward," the statement reads.

The New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has criticized the proposed bill as violating defendants' rights and potentially resulting in wrongful convictions. 

During Weinstein's last court appearance on July 9, he entered the courtroom in a wheelchair. At the time, his defense attorney Diana Fabi Samson said he was eager for a new trial.

"He in anxious to go to trial and prove his innocence," she said. "Physically, he is not well. And that is certainly affecting his mental state, but I think he's strong."