The convicted rapist and former movie producer will face additional sexual assault charges, rather than remaining at a state prison near Buffalo, N.Y.<\/b>
\nBUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 New York prison officials handed over convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein for transport to California on Tuesday to face additional sexual assault charges, ending the former movie producer\u2019s protracted fight to delay his extradition. Weinstein,69, was released by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision about 9:25 a.m., a department statement said. His spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, said Weinstein\u2019s lawyers had still been trying to negotiate an extradition waiver but the transfer was expected \u201cat some point.\u201d \u201cWe will be fighting so that Harvey can receive his needed medical care and of course, so that he can be treated fairly,\u201d Engelmayer said. \u201cDue process, presumption of innocence and a fair trial are all still his right.\u201d Details of Weinstein\u2019s travels were not immediately known. A New York judge in June approved Weinstein\u2019s extradition to California, denying his lawyers\u2019 request to keep him at a state prison near Buffalo \u2014 where he is serving a 23-year sentence for a rape conviction last year \u2014 until the start of jury selection in the Los Angeles case. Weinstein\u2019s lawyer, Norman Effman, argued he should remain in Wende Correctional Facility\u2019s hospital-like maximum-security setting while receiving treatment for maladies including a loss of eyesight. Weinstein was charged in January 2020 with 11 sexual assault counts in California involving five women, stemming from alleged assaults in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills from 2004 to 2013. The charges include rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual battery by restraint and sexual penetration by use of force. Weinstein maintains his innocence and contends that any sexual activity was consensual. The California charges were announced shortly before Weinstein\u2019s conviction in New York City on charges that he raped an aspiring actress in 2013 in a Manhattan hotel room and forcibly performed oral sex on a TV and film production assistant in 2006 at his Manhattan apartment. He is appealing that conviction. A lawyer for one of Weinstein\u2019s accusers applauded Tuesday\u2019s transfer, which was repeatedly delayed by the pandemic as well as legal arguments over paperwork and his medical needs. \u201cThe opportunity to hold Weinstein accountable for his actions in California gives voice to the survivors including my client, Jane Doe 4,\u201d attorney Elizabeth Fegan said in a statement. \u201cThey deserve to be heard and to have Weinstein answer for his actions. Our hope is that a guilty verdict in California will ensure that Harvey Weinstein will spend the rest of his life behind bars \u2013 securing justice for women everywhere.\u201d Comments are not available on this story. Send questions\/comments to the editors. \u00ab Previous Next\u00bb<\/p>\n