Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein was convicted on Wednesday of one count of criminal sexual assault, acquitted on another, and faced a hung jury on a third charge, bringing a mixed outcome in a case that has become emblematic of the #MeToo movement.
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The jury, composed of seven women and five men, found Weinstein guilty of forcing a woman to perform a sex act in 2006. However, he was acquitted of a second similar charge from the same year, while jurors were unable to reach a verdict on a charge that he raped actress Jessica Mann in 2013.
The split verdict reflects a partial vindication for both prosecutors and Weinstein’s defense team in a trial fraught with emotional testimony, legal scrutiny, and visible tension among jurors.
Weinstein, 73, had previously been convicted in 2020 of raping Mann and sexually assaulting another woman, Mimi Haley. But in 2023, New York’s highest court overturned that conviction, ruling that the trial judge improperly allowed testimony from additional women whose claims were not part of the charges. The case was sent back for retrial.
Tensions flared behind closed doors during the retrial, especially during jury deliberations. On Wednesday, the jury foreperson privately requested to speak with Judge Curtis Farber, expressing concerns about pressure and alleged intimidation from fellow jurors.
“He said words to the effect of ‘I can’t go back in there with the other jurors,’” Judge Farber later told the court. The foreperson also submitted a handwritten note citing “a situation” he found troubling.
In a private session with the judge and lawyers, the foreperson reportedly said another juror told him, “I’ll meet you outside one day,” prompting concern for his safety. Defense attorney Arthur Aidala described the incident as threatening and called for a mistrial, arguing the juror was being bullied. The prosecution, however, dismissed the claim as exaggerated, characterizing the foreperson as merely “stubborn” and insisting that disagreement is a normal part of deliberation.
This was not the first sign of discord. Last Friday, another juror asked to be excused over concerns that a fellow panelist was being treated unfairly. Despite these issues, the jury continued its deliberations through Tuesday without incident.
On Wednesday morning, jurors requested and re-heard key testimony from Mann about the alleged 2013 rape in a Manhattan hotel room. Mann’s account had already been replayed in part last week.
Weinstein has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies ever sexually assaulting or raping anyone. His lawyers argued the encounters were consensual and that his accusers sought professional advantages in exchange for their involvement with him.
The retrial included testimony from Mann, Haley, and Kaja Sokola, whose allegation of forced oral sex was added after the original conviction was overturned. All three women have chosen to be publicly identified.
The once-powerful film producer, whose fall from grace helped spark a global reckoning on sexual abuse in the workplace, is also appealing a separate 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles.
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