CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses sexual assault and rape.
Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty on a sex crimes charge by a Manhattan jury, in a retrial after a state appeals court overturned his 2020 conviction last year.
Weinstein, 73, was accused by prosecutors in the case of raping an aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and assaulting two other women, former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and Kaja Sokola in 2002. He pleaded not guilty and has denied assaulting anyone or having non-consensual sex.
On Thursday morning (local time), after five days of deliberations, the jury found Weinstein guilty on one charge of sexual assault, which stemmed from his alleged assault of Haley.
It found him not guilty of a charge stemming from his alleged assault of Sokola.
The jury has not reached a verdict for a rape charge relating to Mann, and deliberations on that count will resume on Thursday.
The retrial began in April, and in closing arguments on June 3, the prosecution told the 12-person jury that the evidence showed Weinstein used his power and status to trap and abuse women.
During the trial, the prosecution portrayed the former movie mogul as a serial predator who used the lure of Hollywood success to coax women into private settings where he then attacked them. Weinstein’s defense rejected that characterisation and argued the relationships were consensual and “mutually beneficial”, noting they ended up with auditions and other opportunities.
Prior to the jury’s verdict on Thursday local time, Justice Curtis Farber met a member of the jury, referred to as Juror One. He then stated in open court that there had been “fighting” in the jury room, per the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Juror One has made it very clear that he is not going to change his position,” Farber said, adding that Juror One did not tell him what his position was.
“He indicated that at least one other juror made comments to the juror that ‘I’ll meet you outside one day’, and there’s yelling and screaming.”
Regardless of the eventual verdict on the rape charge, Weinstein faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced. He has separately been sentenced to 16 years in prison following a rape conviction in California, which he is also appealing, per the Sydney Morning Herald.
Weinstein was previously found guilty in February 2020 of raping Mann and sexually assaulting Haley. (Sokola’s allegation was not part of that case.) It marked a milestone moment for the #MeToo movement at the time, after over 100 women — including famous actresses — accused him of misconduct.
However, the conviction was thrown out in April 2024 by the New York Court of Appeals. It said the trial judge erred by letting women testify that Weinstein had assaulted them, though their accusations were not the basis of the criminal charges.
Lead image: Getty
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