Harvey Weinstein “Secretly Accused by Los Angeles Grand Jury on Rape Charges”

According to a report, Harvey Weinstein was secretly charged with rape charges by a Los Angeles grand jury.

The indictment came “a couple of weeks ago” and closely resembles a criminal complaint filed in January 2020 by former DA Jackie Lacey, Fox News reported.

It will likely facilitate the extradition of the disgraced New York film mogul, where he is already serving a 23-year sentence for rape and sexual assault.

Weinstein faces 11 complaints in California, including rape and sexual violence that involved five incidents between 2004 and 2013.

If convicted, the former Hollywood producer faces 140 years in prison.

Fox reported that the sealed indictment, along with Weinstein’s arrest warrant, is expected to be made public Monday afternoon following an extradition hearing in Erie, New York.

The Los Angeles DA’s office did not respond to Fox’s inquiries about the indictment.

A lawyer for two of Weinstein’s five prosecutors in the Los Angeles case declined to comment.

The Los Angeles case against Weinstein, 69, has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, but apparently the DA office did not want to wait any longer to continue.

Weinstein is currently serving his sentence at the Wende Correctional Center near Buffalo, a maximum security prison. Through his lawyer, he has denied all charges against him.

“These are rancid, unfounded, unconfirmed and incredible allegations that arose during the hysteria of the #MeToo movement and we are confident that Mr Weinstein will be acquitted because there is no credible evidence against him. He is innocent,” he said. defense attorney Mark Werksman.

At Monday’s hearing, Weinstein’s lawyers are expected to call for a postponement of the extradition, because his poor health could reportedly put him at risk due to the pandemic.

If the expected request is denied, Weinstein could be extradited to Los Angeles within 30 days.

Experts said an indictment could help Los Angeles prosecutors streamline court proceedings by going straight to trial.

If the extradition had been made solely on the basis of a criminal complaint, a prior hearing would have been necessary.

“This process will eliminate the need for a preliminary hearing which is a kind of minitrial as we saw in the OJ case: there was the trial before the trial,” defense attorney Troy Slaten told Fox News , in reference to OJ 1994-5 Simpson murder trial.

Gloria Allred, who represents two of Weinstein’s five accusers, has said she hopes to appear in court on the west coast soon.

“It seems to me that Mr. Weinstein does not want to be moved to Los Angeles to face charges, but delayed justice is denied,” the prominent women’s rights lawyer said.

Allred represents Mimi Haleyi, one of the women on the charges of whom Weinstein was found guilty in his trial in New York more than a year ago.

In the Los Angeles case, she advocates for an unnamed woman, as well as model and actress Lauren Young, who appeared as a witness in Weinstein’s criminal trial in New York.

Young testified that Weinstein sexually assaulted her in a Beverly Hills hotel room in February 2013.

She said she was trapped in a bathroom with the producer who allegedly palpated her while masturbating.

LA prosecutors allege that Weinstein raped another woman at a Beverly Hills hotel on February 18, 2013, just one day before the alleged attack on Young.

The other three women involved in the Los Angeles case were also allegedly assaulted at Beverly Hills hotels.

Regardless of the outcome of the Los Angeles case, Weinstein would have to return to New York to serve the remainder of his 23-year sentence.

Earlier this month, Weinstein filed an appeal for his conviction for rape and sexual offenses, alleging that he did not receive a fair trial and that the incidents were “indisputably consensual” and that many of the women who they gave statements to his trial only believing it to be “disgusting.”

His attorneys filed a 166-page appeal in Manhattan on April 5, claiming that the judge allowed too many witnesses to Weinstein’s reputation and character.

Weinstein was convicted of a felony of first-degree criminal sexual assault and another of third-degree rape last February. Three other charges were dropped. He was sentenced on March 11.

“Simply put, the prosecution tested Weinstein’s character, not his conduct,” his lawyers said in their appeal Monday.

“With a year ago and the emotions diminished, the transcript of the case confirms what we always believed: that Mr. Weinstein did not receive a fair trial … We have the utmost confidence that the appellate division will correct these errors and will send us back before a different judge, ”they said.

They say the jury ignored the facts of the case, focusing on Weinstein’s public figure that had been created and that the incidents were consensual “indisputably.”