Harvey Weinstein, disgraced former movie producer, has been indicted on 11 counts of sexual assault in Los Angeles County.
According to a report from the Los Angeles Times’ James Queally and Richard Winton on Monday, Weinstein could be extradited to Los Angeles following a hearing in New York. The 67-year-old convicted sex offender was facing four counts of forcible rape, four counts of forcible oral copulation, two counts of sexual battery, and one count of sexual penetration by force in connection with alleged assaults against five women spanning from 2004 to 2013.
The grand jury indictment upholds those charges without adding anything new, per the Times’ sources. During the grand jury hearings, all five alleged victims testified.
The case in California, notably, is widely believed to be moving forward ahead of Weinstein’s recently announced appeal of a conviction in New York in which he was sentenced to 23 years behind bars. In a statement included in Monday’s report, Weinstein’s defense attorney Mark Werksman said he and his team were “confident” Weinstein would be acquitted due to what he claimed as “no credible evidence.”
Last week, Weinstein was reported to have filed an appeal over his 2020 third-degree rape and criminal sexual act in the first-degree convictions. In the 190-page filing, first published in full by Deadline, Weinstein claimed his “constitutional right to be tried by a fair and impartial jury” was denied. Additionally, Weinstein’s legal team argued that the third-degree rape conviction should be reversed. As for the other charge, Weinstein’s team said the 23-year sentence was “unduly harsh” and should be made the subject of a new trial.
Earlier this year, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge confirmed a Weinstein Co. liquidation which will set aside more than $17 million for victims of the Miramax co-founder’s sexual misconduct.
