NEW YORK _ The jurors considering the fate of accused sexual predator Harvey Weinstein started day four of their deliberations Friday by listening to a readback of actress Annabella Sciorra's testimony during cross-examination.
The jury of seven men and five women, in a note to Judge James Burke one day earlier, initially asked to also hear any follow-up questioning by prosecutors of Sciorra, the first of six Weinstein accusers to testify at the Manhattan Supreme Court trial of the Oscar-winning movie producer.
But the panel sent out a note before their entire request was fulfilled, apparently satisfied by what they heard from defense attorney Donna Rotunno's questions and Sciorra's answers. The jurors also sent Burke a second note asking for a 10-minute break outside the courthouse on a brisk but sunny afternoon.
Sciorra, an Emmy nominee for her work on "The Sopranos," recounted how she was unable to fight off the 300-pound producer when he appeared, uninvited, at her apartment door in the winter of 1993-94. Sciorra, now 59, testified that Weinstein barged inside, forcing the 110-pound actress into her bedroom and raping her.
"He was too big," she testified when asked by Rotunno if she tried to escape the apartment. "He was frightening."
The deliberations Friday were set to end at 3 p.m., with the jury to return next week if no verdict is reached. Sciorra's testimony is key in the charge of predatory sexual assault against Weinstein, who faces life in prison if convicted on that count.
He was also accused of raping prosecution witness Jessica Mann and charged with criminal sexual act for performing forcible oral sex on fellow accuser Mimi Haley.
