A New York judge declared a mistrial on a rape charge in Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes trial after one juror refused to continue deliberations over an alleged attack in 2013 on actress Jessica Mann.
The jury had found Weinstein guilty of one count of sexual assault and not guilty of another count on Wednesday, but kept deliberating about a final rape charge.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said after the mistrial was announced that his office plans to retry the rape charge again – meaning a third trial for Weinstein in New York.
The rape charge was brought by actress Jessica Mann, who said in a statement on Thursday that she was prepared to testify again.
On Thursday, the foreperson said he would not go back to the jury room to deliberate because he was afraid of others yelling at him, so the judge declared a mistrial on the last rape charge.
One juror in Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes trial refused to continue deliberations over an alleged attack on actress Jessica Mann in 2013, leading a New York judge to declare a mistrial on a rape charge.
On Wednesday, the jury continued to deliberate on a final rape charge after finding Weinstein guilty of one count of sexual assault and not guilty of another.
Following the news of the mistrial, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated that his office intends to retry the rape charge, which would mean Weinstein’s third trial in New York.
Last September, Weinstein was charged with new sex crimes after the state overturned his previous conviction, which led to Thursday’s mistrial.
Actress Jessica Mann, who filed the rape charge, stated in a statement on Thursday that she was ready to testify once more.
“I am prepared, willing, and able to endure this as many times as it takes for justice and accountability to be served,” she stated in her statement to the district attorney. “I’m not going to give up today. “..”.
Bragg stated at a press conference that he “immediately informed the court that we are ready to go forward to trial again on that charge, after conferring with Jessica Mann” following the judge’s declaration of a mistrial.
One juror on Thursday declined to continue the six-week trial after a panel of seven female and five male jurors deliberated for six days.
Tensions arose during the trial’s deliberations. Earlier this week, the jury foreperson expressed concerns to the judge, claiming that jurors were “attacking” each other and attempting to influence his decision.
He presented the judge with additional grievances on Wednesday, stating that “there is yelling and screaming” and that “at least one other juror made remarks along the lines of “I’ll meet you outside one day.” Judge Curtis Farber made this statement to the court.
The judge declared a mistrial on the final rape charge on Thursday after the foreperson stated he would not return to the jury room to deliberate because he was worried about people shouting at him.
Jury deliberations can get heated at times. The 12-member jury was told by Judge Farber, “I understand this particular deliberation was more needed than some others,” according to US media.
A representative for Weinstein said in a statement that his team thought the conviction would be “set aside” because of “gross juror misconduct.”.
“Third trials, one conviction, eight years, dozens of accusers,” spokesperson Juda Engelmayer stated. “Harvey has not lost hope or the will to keep fighting to clear his name, despite being disappointed by the single verdict. “.”.
Because a judge permitted testimony from women who made accusations against Weinstein that went beyond the charges at hand, the 73-year-old was not given a fair trial in 2020, according to an appeals court that overturned his prior conviction for sex crimes in New York last April.
Three women—Ms. Mann, Miriam Haley, a former television production assistant, and Polish model Kaja Sokola—were the basis for the 2025 trial. Weinstein was accused by all three of sexually abusing them by abusing his position of authority in the entertainment industry. Both Ms. Mann and Ms. Haley provided testimony during Weinstein’s initial trial, which resulted in his conviction.
In this case, the jury cleared Weinstein of assaulting Ms. Sokola but found him guilty of sexually assaulting Ms. Haley.
In addition to the most recent conviction, Weinstein was found guilty of sex crimes in Los Angeles and is still serving a 16-year sentence.
When one juror claimed that other jurors were “shunning” one panelist, referring to it as “playground stuff,” the jury deliberations became tense last week as well.
In addition, the foreperson asserted that jurors were taking into account Weinstein’s prior and other, unrelated accusations when rendering verdicts.
As a result, the judge instructed the jury to consider only the accusations made in the criminal case.
During the trial, Weinstein, who has diabetes and cancer, remained at Bellevue Hospital instead of Riker’s Island jail. During the event, he sat in a wheelchair.
There are over 100 women who have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct, assault, and rape. He is likely to serve the remainder of his life behind bars due to the California conviction, even though not all reports led to criminal charges.
Weinstein and his brother Bob were two of Hollywood’s most powerful people. They founded the Miramax film studio, which produced successful films like Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love, which took home the Oscar for best picture.
