Harvey Weinstein to be arraigned for previously dismissed sexual assault charge
Harvey Weinstein is expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles on Monday on a grand jury indictment of sexual assault that had previously been dismissed by a judge who claimed the case was beyond the statute of limitations.
The fallen film mogul faces charges of sexual battery for allegedly attacking a woman in May 2010. In total, Weinstein now faces 11 charges of rape and sexual assault against five victims.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa B. Lench had sustained the defense’s statute of limitations challenge to the one count at a July 29 hearing, according to NBC. But Lench allowed the prosecution the opportunity to seek a grand jury indictment on the other count.
This is the third time the prosecution has asked the jury to amend the indictment, according to NBC 4.
Weinstein, 69, was extradited to California on July 20 from Wende Correctional Facility in upstate New York — where he had been serving a 23-year sentence for rape and battery after his conviction in February 2020 in Manhattan.
On July 21 Weinstein pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Los Angeles prosecutors first charged Weinstein in January 2020, just as jury selection was getting underway in his New York case. More charges were added later that year.
Weinstein was then indicted by an LA grand jury in March based on allegations that he sexually assaulted five women in the City of Angels and Beverly Hills between 2004 and 2013.
The indictment includes counts of rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual battery by restraint and sexual penetration by use of force. Most of the alleged sexual assaults are said to have happened at hotels in Beverly Hills, some during Oscars week.
Weinstein’s attorneys have tried to argue that he should be kept in the Buffalo-area prison until a jury is selected in the LA case, citing the ruined Hollywood producer’s declining health, but their requests were denied.
If convicted, he faces a maximum 140 years in prison sentence, which he is expected to live out in New York state prison.
https://nypost.com/2021/08/22/harvey-weinstein-to-be-arraigned-on-grand-jury-indictment/