On Tuesday, Harvey Weinstein’s retrial faced chaos when an action by his accuser, Jessica Mann, triggered a ‘medical episode’ for the disgraced producer, leading to demands for a mistrial.
Jessica Mann, 38, had left the witness stand after testifying about Weinstein’s alleged assault where she claimed he grabbed her, forcibly undressed her, and raped her.
As she passed the defense table she turned towards the seated Hollywood producer and aimed a finger at her eyes and then at him.
The gesture seemed to allude to Mann wanted Weinstein to look at her, and it prompted his lawyer Arthur Aidala to argue for a mistrial.
Amidst his lawyer’s attempts to have the retrial dismissed, Weinstein began making strange noises, prompting court officers to rush to his side. After he took a sip of water, the episode appeared to subside.
Aidala cited Mann’s gesture and questioned her displays of emotion. Mann frequently had to wipe her eyes and took heavy breaths as she testified on Tuesday.
According to her, Weinstein screamed ‘You owe me one more time!’ during the alleged sexual assault.
The horrifying ordeal happened inside a Beverly Hills, California, hotel room at the beginning of 2014, she told the New York City courtroom.
Mann is seen here entering Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday to testify against Weinstein
Weinstein, who denies ever raping or sexually assaulting anyone, shook his head as he watched her testimony from the defense table
Weinstein, who denies ever raping or sexually assaulting anyone, shook his head as he watched her testimony from the defense table.
Outside of the court room Mann did not respond to questions from reporters about what she was trying to convey with her gesture.
Weinstein is charged with raping her on another occasion in New York in 2013, as well as forcing oral sex on two other women in 2006. He has pleaded not guilty.
Aidala had also questioned why Mann was asked about a previous incident in LA that Weinstein isn’t actually charged with it, again using that to call for a mistrial
Judge Curtis Farber shot his calls down. He had already ruled that Mann and the other two could put the charges in the context of other interactions with Weinstein.
Speaking on the courtroom gesture, Farber said: ‘I can´t control what people do in the courtroom, nor what jurors may make of it.’
Mann met Weinstein socially in Los Angeles over a decade ago when she was trying to get acting work.
She has said that she had a consensual, on-and-off relationship with the then-married Weinstein, but that he was volatile and violated her if she refused him.
It comes after Weinstein claimed he is still managing to have an influence over the movie industry from behind bars.
Mann, left, is seen here arriving in court on Monday. Mann met Weinstein socially in Los Angeles over a decade ago when she was trying to get acting work
Weinstein is seen here as he arrived at the Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles, February 28, 2016
In a new jailhouse interview published by conservative commentator Candace Owens, Weinstein claimed he was still being slipped movie scripts.
He said: ‘I have friends who are still in the industry who slip me their screenplays and ask me for notes.
‘You know, can I do something for it? Can I help? Can I improve it? And I just give them my honest thoughts.’
Weinstein is being tried again after New York´s highest court, the Court of Appeals, last year overturned his 2020 conviction and 23-year prison sentence.
A new trial was ordered after finding that improper rulings and prejudicial testimony tainted the original one.
As well as the New York case, he also has an appeal pending in California, where he received a 16-year-sentence for a separate rape conviction in Los Angeles in 2022.
Once a Hollywood heavy-hitter, Weinstein became a symbol of sexual misconduct after allegations against him in 2017 fueled the #MeToo movement.
