THE judge has declared a mistrial on the final charge in Harvey Weinstein’s retrial.
The unexpected verdict follows a day after a jury of 12 members found the disgraced 73-year-old film producer guilty on one count of criminal sexual assault while clearing him of the other charge.
Jurors were expected to reconvene on Thursday to continue deliberating the rape charge that they failed to reach a verdict on Wednesday.
Actress Jessica Mann accused Weinstein of raping her in 2013, at the time when she was trying to build her career as an actress.
However, the jury foreperson was unwilling to return to the jury room to continue deliberating, saying he faced threats from other jurors.
Earlier, the jury foreperson had expressed concerns to Judge Curtis Farber, indicating that the discussions had devolved into heated arguments and that he felt intimidated by fellow jurors.
On Wednesday afternoon, the foreperson asked for a discussion with the judge and subsequently informed Judge Farber and the lawyers, “I feel unsafe in there. I can’t remain inside.”
The unidentified man said that other jurors were pressuring him to change his decision, and claimed he was threatened when he refused.
He said other jurors told him, “Oh, we will see you outside.”
After the judge’s ruling, prosecutors said they plan to retry Weinstein on the rape charge.
Prosecutors said Mann is “ready and willing and wants to retry this count,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
A hearing for the charge was set for July 2.
On Wednesday, the jury reached a guilty verdict on a single count of criminal sexual act in connection to actress Mimi Haley’s allegations against Weinstein.
An emotional Haley testified that the “unthinkable” happened when Weinstein sexually assaulted her in July 2006.
But jurors acquitted Weinstein of engaging in a criminal sex act with model Kaja Sokola, who accused the disgraced Miramax founder of forcing oral sex on her in 2006 when she was just 16 years old.
