Harvey Weinstein secretly indicted on rape charges by grand jury in Los Angeles 

Harvey Weinstein was secretly indicted on rape charges by a grand jury in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago, Fox News has learned. The move by LA District Attorney George Gascón should facilitate the extradition of the Hollywood producer from New York so that he can be tried.  

The indictment, which is still under seal, and arrest warrant for Weinstein are expected to be publicly revealed Monday afternoon at his extradition hearing in Erie County, New York. The producer is serving his time at the maximum-security Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo. The LA case has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the DA’s office does not want to wait any longer.   According to legal experts, by getting an indictment, LA prosecutors can streamline the proceedings and are able to go straight to trial, rather than doing it under a criminal complaint that would then require a preliminary hearing. "This process will eliminate the need for a preliminary hearing which is kind of a minitrial like we saw in the OJ case: there was the trial before the trial," criminal defense attorney Troy Slaten explained, adding that in the LA County, the use of grand jury is limited to very few cases. With this move and under the law that allows the borrowed custody, the California state can get custody of the New York’s inmate and must commence trial within 120 days.