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Harvey Weinstein sex crimes case declared a mistrial after jury deadlocks

The Independent — World Andrea Cavallier 1 переглядів 2 хв читання

For the second time in a year, jurors failed to reach a verdict on whether Harvey Weinstein raped Jessica Mann, prompting a Manhattan judge on Friday to declare a mistrial in one of the final unresolved chapters of the disgraced movie mogul’s sprawling sex crimes cases.

After two days of deliberations, the seven men and five women on the jury told the court they were unable to unanimously decide whether 74-year-old Weinstein was guilty of third-degree rape stemming from Mann’s allegations that he assaulted her at a Manhattan hotel in 2013. Weinstein’s lawyers argued that the encounter was consensual.

Justice Curtis Farber delivered an Allen charge, urging the panel to continue deliberating and reminding jurors that “it wasn’t meant to be easy.”

But by about 1 p.m., jurors informed the court they remained hopelessly deadlocked. Farber then declared a mistrial. A hearing was set for June 24 to learn whether prosecutors will choose to go to a fourth trial.

Weinstein’s public downfall in 2017, after dozens of women accused him of sexual misconduct, became a catalyst for the global #MeToo movement. Jurors in the retrial, however, only heard testimony related to Mann’s allegations.

The trial of Harvey Weinstein, the former film producer accused of rape, ended in a mistrial againopen image in gallery
The trial of Harvey Weinstein, the former film producer accused of rape, ended in a mistrial again (AP)

Mann, a hairstylist and aspiring actor, testified Weinstein raped her at a DoubleTree hotel in Manhattan in 2013. He was convicted in 2020, but that verdict, along with another charge, was later overturned.

In a second trial last year, Weinstein was found guilty on one count of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and not guilty on another. But a third charge, of raping Mann, ended in a mistrial after the jury foreperson declined to return to deliberations, citing concerns for his safety.

Mann also played a central role in Weinstein’s landmark 2020 conviction in New York, which was later overturned in a split decision by the state’s highest court. A retrial on the same charge last year similarly ended in a mistrial.

Mann, a hairstylist and aspiring actor, testified Weinstein raped her at a DoubleTree hotel in Manhattan in 2013open image in gallery
Mann, a hairstylist and aspiring actor, testified Weinstein raped her at a DoubleTree hotel in Manhattan in 2013 (AFP/Getty)

Despite the mistrial, Weinstein still faces significant prison time after jurors in his 2025 retrial convicted him of sexually assaulting former “Project Runway” production assistant Miriam Haley. He faces up to 25 years in prison on that conviction.

Weinstein is also serving a separate 16-year sentence in California following his 2022 conviction in Los Angeles for raping and sexually assaulting Italian model and actor Evgeniya Chernyshova. He is expected to return to California custody before serving any New York prison sentence.

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