Harvey Weinstein indicted in California on sexual assault charges
Case accuses ex-Hollywood film producer of alleged attacks on five women from 2004 to 2013 in the Los Angeles area.
Harvey Weinstein has been indicted in California, in the US on sexual assault charges, one of his lawyers said on Monday, as the former Hollywood film producer appeared in a New York court proceeding over whether to extradite him.
Weinstein, 69, appeared via video link from the Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York, for the hearing before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case.
Weinstein has been appealing his February 2020 conviction in Manhattan and 23-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping former aspiring actress Jessica Mann.
California’s criminal case against Weinstein covers alleged attacks on five women from 2004 to 2013 in the Los Angeles area.
It includes four counts of forcible rape, four counts of forcible oral copulation, two counts of sexual battery by restraint and one count of sexual penetration by use of force.
Weinstein has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone.
Norman Effman, a public defender representing Weinstein, asked that his client be arraigned on the indictment virtually in New York rather than extradited so he could get necessary medical treatment, including scheduled eye and dental surgery.
Effman said Weinstein, a diabetic, is “almost technically blind at this point” and also suffers from cardiac and back problems.
“We’re not trying to avoid what is going to happen in California,” Effman said. “We believe there is not only a defence to these charges but a very good defence to these charges,” which would result in an acquittal.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.