The retrial of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in New York concluded on Thursday with mixed outcomes: a conviction, an acquittal, and a mistrial following weeks of testimony.
Weinstein was initially convicted in 2020 of rape and criminal sexual assault, but this conviction was overturned by the state’s highest court last year, ruling that testimonies from accusers not part of the original charges should not have been permitted. Manhattan prosecutors decided to retry the cases related to the assaults on Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann and included a charge for the sexual assault of Kaja Sokola.
On Wednesday, the jury delivered a guilty verdict for the charges concerning Haley, but acquitted Weinstein on the charge associated with Sokola, reported CBS News. The jury reconvened on Thursday to deliberate on the charge of raping Mann, but the jury’s foreperson refused to proceed, citing threats from another juror and concerns for his safety.
The seven women and five men of the jury began their deliberations last Thursday, and on the following day, one juror asked to be removed, claiming that other jurors were being unfair. The judge denied the request.
On Monday, a juror asked to speak with the judge privately, and on Wednesday, the foreperson asked for a private meeting with judge and said that he had been threatened by another juror over his decision on the rape charge.
“Somebody talk to me, ‘Oh, we will see you outside,’ because I got my decision. I say, ‘No, that’s my personal decision. You don’t have to change me,’” the foreperson said, according to a transcript. of the meeting with the judge.
The judge gave the foreperson a security detail, but when he came to court on Thursday he said he would not continue deliberations, forcing the judge to declare a mistrial.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it would bring the rape case back to trial.
After the mistrial was declared, some jurors spoke to reporters and acknowledged tensions had been high during deliberations.
“It started rocky. As I’m sure everybody knows by now, it was a rough couple days. Unfortunately, things broke down. A lot of good people in there, a lot of stuff happened,” said one juror, who asked to remain anonymous.
The jurors said the tensions did not rise to the level of danger.
“It’s not like a fight was going to break out, no, obviously not. I think it was just high tension, you know? People were just tired,” one juror said. “You know, we were there for seven weeks. It’s cabin fever. You’re locked in a room … Most of us were just tired. The summer sun was coming out. I think most of us just wanted it to be over with.”
While District Attorney Alvin Bragg said he would bring the final count back to trial, Weinstein’s attorneys said another trial is unnecessary.
“Of course Mr. Weinstein is disappointed. He has maintained his innocence from the day I met him,” defense attorney Arthur Aidala said. “We have very powerful evidence that there was gross juror misconduct at this trial.”
Aidala said the defense team would file a motion to toss the one guilty version out because of the juror misconduct.
“This morning, after the judge declared the jury could not reach a verdict on rape in the third degree, we immediately informed the court that we are ready to go forward to trial again on that charge,” Bragg said at a news conference after the mistrial was announced, NBC News said.
Mann, the victim, issued a statement saying she would not back away from the case.
“I will never give up on myself and making sure my voice — and the truth — is heard,” Mann said. “I have told the District Attorney I am ready, willing and able to endure this as many times as it takes for justice and accountability to be served. Today is not the end of my fight.”
Weinstein is also appealing a 2022 sexual assault conviction in Los Angeles. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in that case.
