Harvey Weinstein, former movie mogul and co-founder of entertainment company Miramax, pleaded not guilty to all the sexual abuse accusations made against him in the retrial
Harvey Weinstein’s sex-crimes retrial has been thrown into chaos.
Jurors agreed to convict him on one charge but failed to reach a verdict on a rape allegation. The split decision follows a closely watched trial sparked by the overturning of the disgraced movie mogul’s 2020 conviction.
A majority-female jury found Weinstein, 73, guilty of forcibly performing a sex act on a woman in 2006. He was acquitted of a separate charge involving a different 2006 allegation but a third charge, the alleged 2013 rape of actress Jessica Mann, left jurors failing to reach a verdict.
Weinstein, who maintains he never raped or assaulted anyone, pleaded not guilty to all counts. The jury is composed of seven women and five men. The split verdict leaves prosecutors with a partial victory but underlines the complexity of the retrial, which was marred by internal jury tensions and repeated requests for a mistrial.
Deliberations were temporarily disrupted midday yesterday (June 10) when the jury foreperson signalled distress during proceedings. Speaking privately to Justice Curtis Farber, the foreperson expressed fears of being bullied and intimated he could no longer continue discussions with the panel.
He referenced threats from another juror who allegedly said: “I’ll meet you outside one day” and warned: “You don’t know me,” according to court reports. Farber described the foreperson as shaken, though not physically threatened.
“He did indicate that at least one other juror made comments to the effect of ‘I’ll meet you outside,’ and there’s yelling and screaming,” the judge said. Weinstein’s attorney, Arthur Aidala, immediately called for a mistrial, accusing the court of failing to protect the foreperson.
“I don’t think the court is protecting this juror. Period,” he said as prosecutors argued it did not merit a mistrial.
“He said he’d made up his mind, he didn’t want to change it, and people were pressuring him to change it,” Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo said. “That’s what jury deliberations involve.”
Tensions among jurors had already surfaced earlier in the week. Last week one juror asked to be excused, claiming another member was being treated unfairly.
A previous request for a mistrial, also citing juror conflict, had been denied. Weinstein’s original conviction in 2020, which resulted in a 23-year prison sentence, was heralded as a triumph for survivors of sexual violence.
But in 2023 New York’s highest court overturned that conviction, ruling that the trial judge had improperly allowed testimony about uncharged, prior sexual conduct. The reversal left prosecutors facing the difficult task of retrying a high-profile case with limited scope for introducing supporting testimony.
Yesterday’s partial verdict complicates Weinstein’s legal outlook. He remains convicted in California on separate sex crimes, where he was sentenced to 16 years in 2023.
It remains unclear whether prosecutors will seek a retrial on the unresolved rape charge. Weinstein’s fall from grace – he once the major force behind films like Shakespeare in Love and Pulp Fiction – continues to resonate across Hollywood and beyond.
Dozens of women have publicly accused him of sexual misconduct, including actresses such as Ashley Judd, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Salma Hayek. However, some of those allegations did not fall within the statute of limitations or lacked sufficient corroborating evidence to support prosecution.
Have you joined Threads? Follow Daily Star to keep up to date on all things showbiz here
Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
