Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein will appear in a Queens courtroom Thursday just days after he wastransferred back to Rikers Island from a cushy private room at Bellevue Hospital.
The72-year-old Hollywood bigwig — who had his New York sex crime conviction overturned last month — is facing an extradition hearing that could send him to California, where he was convicted on separate sex charges in 2022.
Being that hes no longer a convicted felon in New York, California is obligated to request his presence to begin serving his 16-year sentence there, Weinstein’s spokesperson Juda Engelmeyer told The Post.
As he’s not technically a criminal in New York, he’s technically a fugitive of California justice. It’s Gavin Newsome’s way of showing his electorate that he’s ‘doing something’ about Harvey, Engelmeyer explained. Harvey Weinstein is expected to return to court today. AP
Engelmayer previously said that Weinsteins team expected the ex-Miramax honcho to have to go out to LA to serve some time there.
Weinstein was sentenced to 16 years behind bars in February 2023 in a separate Los Angeles case for the 2013 rape of Italian model Evgeniya Chernyshova.
That sentence was meant to be served consecutively with his 23-year rap for the New York conviction rape and criminal sex acts.
The Shakespeare in Love producers legal team now views the New York reversal as possible grounds for an appeal in the Los Angeles case.
That jury was under the assumption that Mr. Weinstein had been fairly convicted in New York, and that didnt turn out to be true, attorney Jennifer Bonjean told The Post late last month.
So Im very optimistic about the California case, she added.
The Los Angeles District Attorneys Office said it was disheartened by the New York courts ruling, but maintained that it was confident that the California conviction would hold up, The Guardian reported.
Weinstein will remain in jail in New York while awaiting a new trial though his attorneys have argued that he is a sick man whose illness is being exacerbated by his incarceration.
Harvey has multiple health issues and hes never gotten the level of care that he received prior to going into custody, one of Weinstein’s lawyers, Donna Rotunno, told The City earlier this week.
While in the Manhattan hospitals intensive care unit, the former high-flying exec was treated to the comforts of a private bathroom, phone, and a television.
Weinstein was admitted to the hospital following the April 25 decision to reverse his conviction and 23-year sentence for rape and criminal sex acts.
At the time of the announcement, the New York Court of Appeals explained that the judge on the case made a series of blunders that prevented the ex-Miramax honcho from getting a fair trial.
Plans to retry Weinstein could go forward as early as this fall, the Manhattan District Attorneys Office said.