On the day Harvey Weinstein received a 23-year sentence in New York following his criminal conviction, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced it has begun the process of extraditing Weinstein to California to face additional sexual assault charges filed against the former movie mogul in January.
The DA’s office has yet to set an arraignment date. Weinstein faces felony charges of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint. The charges stem from separate incidents over a two-day period from 2013.
On Wednesday, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of third-degree rape and a first-degree criminal sexual act. Weinstein is expected to appeal the verdict, and his lead attorney Donna Rotunno called the sentence “obscene” and “ridiculous.”
The New York jury found Weinstein guilty of third-degree rape of Jessica Mann and a criminal sexual act of Miriam Haley (née Mimi Haleyi). However, the panel found him not guilty of two of the most serious charges — predatory sexual assault against Haley, Mann and “Sopranos” actress Annabella Sciorra — and the first-degree rape of Mann.
After the verdict on Feb. 24, he spent about 10 days on the forensic ward of New York’s Bellevue Hospital, where he underwent a heart procedure, before he was moved on March 5 to the North Infirmary Command, the medical facility at Rikers Island. Following the sentencing, Weinstein was taken back into custody.
Just before the sentence was announced Wednesday, Weinstein addressed his accusers — many of whom were in the courtroom. “We may have different truths, but I have great remorse for all of you,” he said. “I feel remorse for the situation. I feel it deeply in my heart.”
He additionally said he was the first example of “thousands of men” who have now been accused in the #MeToo movement. “I’m worried about this country,” he said, saying he thinks there is a lack of “due process.”