Harvey Weinstein remains at Rikers Island ahead of New York retrial after conviction overturned

Former Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein will remain imprisoned at Rikers Island for his rape and sexual assault retrial before eventually returning to California where he is slated to spend 16 years in jail, Just the News reports.

Prosecutors confirmed the timeline for Weinstein on Monday. He made the rare court appearance related to California's efforts to extradite him so he can begin serving time for a separate rape conviction in Los Angeles.



Weinstein was previously convicted of rape in New York in 2020, but New York prosecutors said in court on May 29, 2024, that more Weinstein accusers can attend his retrial in Manhattan. That decision came after the New York Court of Appeals overturned Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction in April because it argued that the trial judge should have rejected testimony from women not involved in the initial complaint against the fallen movie mogul.

“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 said in a statement, carried by the Associated Press. “He will serve the California sentence first, as it is now his primary sentence.”

Weinstein continues to deny that he was a sexual predator who raped and sexually assaulted many women in New York and California. His current home is Rikers Island, a notorious New York City prison not known for its amenities. He will stay there at least until his retrial that is expected to begin in November.

There could be even further legal woes for Weinstein as Manhattan prosecutors have found more sexual assault charges to file against the former high-flying producer. It is not clear when Weinstein can expect to hear about these new charges.