Editor’s note: This report discusses charges of sexual assault.
On Wednesday, disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein (expectedly) pleased not guilty to charges of rape and sexual assault in a Los Angeles County courtroom. Predictably, the indictment filed by the Los Angeles County district attorney was also unsealed on Wednesday.
According to the indictment, which PopWrapped has had the opportunity to read and review, the alleged incidents for which Weinstein is charged, took place between 2004 and 2013. The formal charges include four counts each of forcible rape and forcible oral copulation, two counts of sexual battery by restraint and one count of sexual penetration by use of force.
“Anyone who abuses their power and influence to prey upon others will be brought to justice,” said Los Angeles County district attorney, George Gascón said in a statement Wednesday. Weinstein was brought into court in a wheelchair by sheriff’s deputies, according to an NBC Los Angeles affiliate.
Earlier this week, Weinstein was extradited to California to face the additional sexual assault charge. All five accusers testified during the grand jury hearings, which is required under California law. Weinstein, 69, had previously been incarcerated in upstate New York at the Wende Correctional Facility in Erie County – serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault following his February 2020 conviction of raping hairstylist Jessica Mann in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on former “Project Runway” TV staffer Miriam “Mimi” Haleyi in 2006.
While the Miramax co-founder has denied all wrongdoing and is currently appealing that conviction, the California case is expected to proceed first.
Currently, LA prosecutors have 120 days after Weinstein’s arrival in the State of California to begin trial proceedings, according to one of Weinstein’s lawyers, Norman Effman. “There won’t be a trial for four to six months,” Effman explained, adding that “[he and his team] are confident about success at the trial.”
Last month, Effman attempted to argue that his client shouldn’t be extradited due to the disgraced former mogul’s multiple medical issues that would go unaddressed if imprisoned in LA. However, Effman stated on Tuesday that “[t]here’s a big difference between a jail and a prison,” distinguishing prisons are for long-term inmates, while jails are for short-term stays, which affect the quality of medical care their respective inmates get.
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