The Harvey Weinstein retrial in New York took another dramatic turn Thursday when the judge declared a mistrial on the remaining undecided charge.
The mistrial comes a day after the jury foreperson said he was threatened by another juror and did not feel safe. He was given a security detail when he returned to court Thursday, and the judge asked whether he felt he could keep deliberating. He replied, “No, I’m sorry.”
The judge then thanked the jury for their time and said the decision to declare a mistrial did not reflect on them.
Some jurors said they were disappointed as they left court, saying they took the case seriously and gave it their best. They said most of the jury felt Weinstein should be convicted of the remaining count, but it came down to one juror who did not want to change his mind.
“It started rocky, as I’m sure everybody know by now it was a rough couple days. Unfortunately, things broke down. A lot of good people in there, a lot of stuff happened,” a juror, who did not want to be identified, said outside the courthouse.
The jury returned a partial verdict Wednesday, finding Weinstein guilty of criminal sexual assault against Miriam Haley and not guilty of criminal sexual assault against Kaja Sokola.
At the time, the jury said they had not yet reached a verdict on the remaining charge of third-degree rape against Jessica Mann, and the judge said they would continue deliberating Thursday.
Weinstein did not appear to have much of a reaction to the mistrial ruling. He may now face another retrial on the rape charge.
A new trial date has not been set, but lawyers will return for a status hearing on July 2 to discuss the future of the case.
Manhattan prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said Mann is ready to go to trial a third time.
Drama among the jury in Weinstein deliberations
The deliberations among the seven women and five men on the jury were seemingly tense.
On June 6, one day after deliberations began, a juror asked to be removed over claims that some jurors were acting unfairly, but the judge denied the request.
Monday, a juror requested to speak with the judge privately.
Wednesday, the jury foreperson asked to speak to the judge in private and alleged another juror had threatened him over his decision on the rape charge.
“Somebody talk to me, ‘Oh, we will see you outside,’ because I got my decision. I say, ‘No, that’s my personal decision. You don’t have to change me,'” the foreperson said, according to a transcript.
The defense repeatedly called for a mistrial over the apparent problems among the jury, and Weinstein himself weighed in Wednesday.
“This isn’t fair. This isn’t right. I’m the one on trial. This is my life that’s on the line, I am not getting a fair trial. You are endangering me,” he said.
The judge asked the jury foreperson if he felt safe returning to court Thursday, and the jury foreperson said he did, but he was offered court-appointed security.
The jury requested the rules of a hung jury and other rules of deliberations earlier in the week.
The retrial of Harvey Weinstein
New York’s highest court overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction last year, ruling the judge in his first trial should not have allowed testimony from accusers who were not part of the criminal charges. Weinstein then spent months at the Rikers Island jail complex leading up to his retrial.
The 73-year-old disgraced Hollywood mogul pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal sex act and one count of third-degree rape. Both carry a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
Haley and Mann, who testified during the original trial, were back on the stand for the retrial. Sokola was not part of the original trial.
Mann alleges he raped her in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013. She said it happened during a consensual relationship that continued for years afterward, telling the jury she “compartmentalized” the pain he caused. Weinstein’s lawyers emphasized she kept seeing him, accepting invitations and sending him messages.
“Rape can happen in relationships — and in dynamics where power and manipulation control the narrative,” Mann said in a statement Wednesday.
Haley testified Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in July 2006, and Sokola alleged he forcibly performed oral sex on her that same year when she was 19 years old.
After the jury left to begin deliberations on June 5, Weinstein asked to address the court, saying in part, “I’ve been treated incredibly fairly. The court officers, the court clerks, everybody I just want to thank from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate you all.”
Meanwhile, he is appealing his 2022 sexual assault conviction in Los Angeles, where he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
contributed to this report.
