Weinstein brought to California to face further rape charges
Associated PressLOS ANGELES — New York prison officials handed convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein over to California on Tuesday to face additional sexual assault charges, ending the former movie mogul’s lengthy fight to delay his extradition. “Due process, presumption of innocence and a fair trial are all still his right.” A New York judge in June approved Weinstein’s extradition to California, denying his lawyers’ 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. The California charges were announced shortly before Weinstein’s 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. Our hope is that a guilty verdict in California will ensure that Harvey Weinstein will spend the rest of his life behind bars – securing justice for women everywhere.” ___ Thompson reported from Buffalo, N.Y. Associated Press writer Michael Sisak in New York City contributed to this report.