Judge OKs Weinstein's extradition for California rape case

A New York judge on Tuesday approved disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s extradition to California, where he faces additional sexual assault charges

A New York judge on Tuesday approved disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's extradition to California, where he faces additional sexual assault charges, ending a legal fight prolonged by the COVID-19 pandemic, the defense's concerns about Weinstein's failing health and a squabble over paperwork. Judge Kenneth Case said there was no reason to delay Weinstein's transfer any longer, denying his lawyer's request to keep him at a state prison near Buffalo — where he is serving a 23-year sentence for a rape conviction last year — until the start of jury selection in the Los Angeles case. Los Angeles authorities plan to collect Weinstein, 69, from the Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, New York, at the end of June or in early July, prosecutors said at Tuesday's extradition hearing in Buffalo, giving Weinstein's lawyer time to appeal Judge Case's decision. Weinstein's lawyer, Norman Effman, argued he should remain in Wende's hospital-like maximum-security setting while receiving treatment for maladies including a loss of eyesight, rather than being shipped cross-country to a Los Angeles jail cell. His suggestion that Weinstein instead be arraigned by video was also rejected.