Harvey Weinstein has been fighting attempts to extradite him to L.A. from a prison cell in Buffalo for about a year. The disgraced producer, who is serving 23 years for sexual assault and rape in New York, faces additional charges of sex abuse in California.
On Friday, New York judge Kenneth Case of Erie County Court, ruled that Weinstein could be taken into custody by California authorities on May 30th, unless his lawyers come with a new reason to keep him in New York, or unless Governor Andrew Cuomo intervenes.
If and when he is transferred, he will be held in the jail ward of an L.A. County hospital to await trial.
The 69-year-old appeared at the virtual hearing. He is charged with four counts each of forcible oral copulation and forcible rape, two counts of sexual battery by restraint and one count of sexual penetration by use of force, for crimes dating from 2004 to 2013 involving five different women. The charges carry a potential sentence of up to 28 years in state prison.