Weinstein to be extradited to LA for trial on sexual assault charges
LOS ANGELES — Harvey Weinstein will soon be extradited to California to stand trial on charges that he sexually assaulted five women in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, a New York judge ruled Tuesday.
Weinstein, 69, and his legal team have spent months fighting Los Angeles County prosecutors’ attempts to bring the disgraced Hollywood titan to Southern California. But on Tuesday, Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case ruled L.A. County authorities could claim custody of Weinstein, setting the stage for a second trial focused on the mogul’s alleged pattern of sexually abusing actresses and models he held sway over in Hollywood.
Case knocked down a motion to block the mogul’s extradition that was based largely around claims that Weinstein needed to stay in New York to receive proper treatment for failing eyesight and an argument that L.A. prosecutors had filed erroneous paperwork seeking to claim custody of him. Although the paperwork issue led to a delay in the proceedings during a previous extradition hearing, it ultimately fell flat Tuesday.
Weinstein dropped his head into his hands as the judge issued his ruling.
Erie County prosecutors said they had been in contact with L.A. County authorities, and it is unlikely they will seek to transport Weinstein to California until mid-July.
In March 2020, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in New York state prison after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of rape and committing a criminal sexual act. But the day before jury selection began in Weinstein’s New York trial, former L.A. County District Attorney Jackie Lacey filed multiple counts of sexual assault against the Miramax movie studio co-founder.
—Los Angeles Times
Office of Congressional Ethics investigating WV Rep. Alex Mooney
WASHINGTON — The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating whether Rep. Alex X. Mooney misspent campaign funds on personal pursuits and failed to properly report required information in his Federal Election Commission filings, according to a source familiar with the inquiry and related documents.
The inquiry, which began in March, asks for information about the West Virginia Republican’s $49,000 worth of campaign spending on resorts, meal purchases, car expenses and other expenses that CQ Roll Call reported on in October.
The OCE is also looking into expenditures made by the campaign at St. James Parish and St. Zita’s gift shop at the parish in Charles Town, West Virginia, the lawmaker’s hometown. Mooney’s campaign has spent over $19,000 since 2018 at St. James and St. Zita’s, according to campaign finance disclosures. Further, thousands in reimbursements Mooney received from his campaign, Alex Mooney for Congress, are under scrutiny. In 2020, four payments were made to Mooney from his campaign for over $2,500 with no disbursement description.
William Beaman, a spokesperson for OCE, declined to comment.
Dirk Haire, an attorney at Fox Rothschild and the chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, is listed as a designated point of contact for Mooney regarding the OCE investigation. He did not respond to a request for comment. (Mooney is also a former chairman of the Maryland GOP and was a state senator there before moving to West Virginia and running for Congress.)
Members are prohibited by federal law and House rules from spending campaign money for personal use.
—CQ-Roll Call
Cable cars to return to San Francisco as pandemic ebbs, city reopens
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco's iconic cable cars will traverse the city's steep hills once again in August as San Francisco reopens after more than a year of pandemic restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Mayor London Breed, speaking at a news conference Tuesday, announced that the cable cars would be free to all riders in August as the system gears up for more expanded operations in September.
"Nothing says San Francisco like a cable car ride — up and down, rolling up and down the hills," Breed said, standing at podium on a track with a cable car behind her.
San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area reopened Tuesday in accordance with state guidelines. About 80% of San Franciscans 12 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine. The city now has only 1.5 cases of the coronavirus for each 100,000 residents, which is 17% lower than the state and a 96% decrease in diagnoses in the city since January.
The cable cars, which usually attract throngs of tourists, have been shuttered since the start of the pandemic. City officials said they would begin working on the cars in July to bring parts of the system into operation the following month.
—Los Angeles Times
Court throws out $1.4 million verdict against Georgia abortion clinic
ATLANTA — The Georgia Court of Appeals has thrown out a $1.4 million verdict against a Marietta abortion clinic whose office park claimed the clinic's protesters were an unacceptable nuisance.
If the court ruled otherwise, the clinic could not operate anywhere, said the opinion, issued Monday. It also would "expose a broad array of legal businesses and institutions to nuisance liability due to the fact that some find them controversial and some will protest their very existence."
The unanimous decision is a "tremendous relief" to Dr. Daniel McBrayer Sr., who had operated his Alpha OBGYN Group medical practice in the Governors Ridge Office Park since the 1990s, said Michael Eber, one of the doctor's lawyers. The Marietta clinic has since closed, he said.
"The ruling makes it clear you cannot bring a nuisance action just because third parties are protesting a lawful activity," co-counsel Rob Remar said.
Alex LeVorse, one of the office park's lawyers, declined to comment.
The ruling granted McBrayer a new trial, although Governors Ridge could ask the Appeals Court to reconsider its decision or petition the Georgia Supreme Court to take a look at it.
