Disgraced Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein will remain in custody on Rikers Island pending the outcome of his upcoming retrial in Manhattan on rape and sexual assault charges, scheduled to begin in November.
Weinstein was arraigned in Queens Criminal Court on Monday morning during an administrative function under the purview of the Queens District Attorney’s Office, which handles all re-arrests from Rikers Island on fugitive matters because the Queens Warrant Squad and the Joint Fugitive Task Force are headquartered at the 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows.
The Queens DA’s Office also handles these cases due to the close proximity of the Kew Gardens courthouse to the prison complex on Rikers Island, which is nine miles away.
“Today, defendant Harvey Weinstein was formally arraigned on a governor’s warrant issued by Governor Kathy Hochul, who exercised her authority for him to remain in New York State until his case in New York County is adjudicated,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz explained. “The defendant — who was convicted in California of forcible rape and other crimes — will be returned to the state of California after his case in New York County is completed.”
Weinstein was handcuffed to his wheelchair for the duration of his arraignment, which took about five minutes. He was in Bellevue Hospital last month due to complications from pneumonia. Weinstein was convicted in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years imprisonment for the sexual assault of a former production assistant in 2006 and the 2013 rape of an actress, but that conviction was overturned by the New York State Court of Appeals in April. The court ruled that the judge in Weinstein’s original trial allowed testimony provided by three women against Weinstein based on allegations that were not part of the case against him, and a retrial was set to get underway on Nov. 12.
Queens Criminal Court Judge Marty Lentz ordered Weinstein detained on Rikers Island until the conclusion of his retrial. He will then be sent back to California, where he was sentenced to 16 years in prison after he was convicted of rape in 2022.
“He will serve his California sentence first, as it is now his primary sentence,” Katz said. “We thank the extradition staffs of Governor Hochul and California Governor Gavin Newsom, as well as our partners in the New York County District Attorney’s Office, the California Attorney General’s Office and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, for their assistance in this matter.”
