Jury deliberates in Harvey Weinstein's rape retrial
NEW YORK -Jurors in Harvey Weinstein's rape and sexual assault retrial began deliberating on Thursday in a Manhattan court, after a judge instructed them to weigh for themselves the credibility of the three accusers that the defense has said lied about their encounters with the once-powerful movie mogul.
The Academy Award-winning producer and Miramax studio co-founder is accused of raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and assaulting two other women in 2006 and 2002. Weinstein, who has denied ever having non-consensual sex or assaulting anyone, has pleaded not guilty. The trial began in April.
The jury was excused for the day after deliberating for around five hours and requesting to review Mann's medical records shown at the trial, as well as testimony from Kaja Sokola, who prosecutors say Weinstein assaulted in Manhattan in 2006. The jury is expected to continue deliberating on Friday morning.
Weinstein, 73, is on trial for a second time after a New York state appeals court threw out his conviction in April 2024. He faces up to 25 years in prison for two counts of criminal sexual acts and up to four years for one count of rape.
New York Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber instructed the 12 jurors on the law, and dismissed four alternate jurors on Thursday morning. After the jury was sent to deliberate, Weinstein, seated in a wheelchair and wearing a dark gray suit, thanked Farber and the court staff.
"I have been treated incredibly fairly," he said.
Weinstein's defense lawyer Arthur Aidala moved for a mistrial earlier on Thursday morning, because Farber replaced a juror who called in sick with an alternate. The judge denied the motion. Aidala has asked the judge several times to declare a mistrial, including over prosecutors' closing arguments, which concluded on Wednesday.
Weinstein is already serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty in December 2022 of rape in California.
Prosecutors with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have portrayed Weinstein as a serial predator who promised career advancement in Hollywood to women, only to then coax them into private settings where he attacked them.
'He held the golden ticket, the chance to make it or not. He made each of these women feel small, no match for the power broker of Hollywood,' prosecutor Nicole Blumberg told jurors on Wednesday.
Weinstein's defense lawyers have said his encounters with the women were consensual and accused them of lying about being raped after failing to make it big in Hollywood by sleeping with him.
"They are lying about what happened. Not about everything, but about a small slice - just enough to turn their regret, their buyers' remorse, into criminality," Aidala told jurors Tuesday.
Weinstein was convicted of rape by a Manhattan jury in February 2020, but the New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction and ordered a new trial, citing errors by the trial judge. Weinstein had been serving a 23-year sentence in a prison in upstate Rome, New York, when the conviction was overturned.
That conviction was a milestone for the #MeToo movement, which encouraged women to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by powerful men.
Weinstein has been held at New York City's Rikers Island jail since his conviction was overturned. He has had several health scares while being held at Rikers, and in September was rushed to a hospital for emergency heart surgery.
More than 100 women, including famous actresses, have accused Weinstein of misconduct. He has denied assaulting anyone or having non-consensual sex.
Miramax studio produced many hit movies in its heyday, including "Shakespeare in Love" and "Pulp Fiction."
Weinstein's own eponymous film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018, five months after the original sexual misconduct accusations became widely publicized.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
2 hours ago
- Mint
Judge denies Harvey Weinstein's bid for mistrial after juror complains
NEW YORK (AP) — A juror in Harvey Weinstein's sex crimes trial asked to be removed from the case Friday because he felt his fellow jurors were treating a member of their panel in an 'unfair and unjust' way, but the judge told him he had to keep deliberating. Judge Curtis Farber later denied a defense request for a mistrial, saying he believed the juror was simply expressing discomfort in the deliberation process, noting that he's the youngest on the 12-person panel. 'This is nothing other than normal tensions during heated deliberations,' Farber told the lawyers after the juror rejoined his peers. 'Perhaps his youth makes him uncomfortable with conflict.' The juror said he wanted to be excused from the trial because he was uncomfortable with how some jurors were acting toward another juror. But Farber denied the request, saying there were no more alternate jurors to replace him and, in any case, his concerns did not warrant being dismissed. The juror insisted, calling the treatment 'unfair and unjust' even as he described the tension as 'playground stuff' with jurors shunning another juror and talking behind their back. Weinstein's lawyer Arthur Aidala argued that the jury should be told to stop deliberating while the court found out more about the concerns. He criticized the judge's questions to the concerned juror as 'anemic at best.' 'You didn't ask him one follow-up question,' Aidala said. Manhattan prosecutor Nicole Blumberg said the judge acted appropriately by reminding jurors about the expectations for them — including that they not speak to anyone about the case unless all members of the jury are deliberating. Whatever the dispute is, she added, it does not appear to be hindering the jury's work, as the panel requested an additional readout of testimony, this time from the third accuser in the case. The Manhattan jury ended its first day of deliberations Thursday without reaching a verdict. Sexual misconduct allegations against Weinstein propelled the #MeToo movement in 2017. The panel has reheard some testimony and viewed medical records and emails. The jury of seven women and five men is considering two counts of criminal sex act and one count of rape against the 73-year-old Oscar-winning movie producer, with the criminal sex act charges the higher-degree felonies. Weinstein has pleaded not guilty. Weinstein was convicted of sex crimes in New York and California, but the New York conviction was overturned last year, leading to the retrial before a new jury and a different judge. Jurors heard more than five weeks of testimony, including lengthy testimony from three accusers. Follow Philip Marcelo at
News18
2 hours ago
- News18
Enzo Staiola, Child Star Of Iconic Film Bicycle Thieves, Passes Away At 85
Enzo Staiola, best known for playing Bruno in Bicycle Thieves, has died at 85. The child actor-turned-teacher never pursued stardom again. Enzo Staiola, who gained international acclaim as a child for his poignant role in Vittorio De Sica's 1948 Italian classic Bicycle Thieves, has died at the age of 85. Italian newspaper La Repubblica confirmed the news, though the cause of death has not been revealed. Staiola, just nine years old at the time of the film, portrayed Bruno Ricci – the son of an impoverished man whose livelihood depends on a bicycle that gets stolen. His performance in the neorealist masterpiece remains one of cinema's most affecting portrayals of childhood innocence and quiet resilience. The film's plot follows Antonio Ricci, played by non-professional actor Lamberto Maggiorani, as he searches the streets of post-war Rome for his stolen bicycle — a lifeline he desperately needs to support his family. At his side is Bruno, his watchful and tender-hearted son, whose expressive eyes silently reflect the emotional toll of their desperate journey. The heartbreak reaches its peak when Antonio, in a moment of hopelessness, attempts to steal a bicycle himself and is caught — all while Bruno watches. The film's final moment, with father and son walking away hand-in-hand through a crowd, is etched in cinematic history. Staiola was born in Rome on November 15, 1939. In a 2023 interview with La Repubblica, he recalled the serendipitous encounter that led to his casting. Director Vittorio De Sica spotted him walking home from school and followed him to his house. 'He sat at the table in our house and tried to convince [my parents] to let me act in his new film. But they didn't want to," Staiola recalled. Eventually, his uncle brought him to De Sica's studio, and he landed the role without auditioning. Despite Bicycle Thieves winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and catapulting him to fame, Staiola never worked with De Sica again. He starred in a handful of other films during the 1950s, including Hearts Without Borders, Vulcano, Guilt Is Not Mine, and A Tale of Five Women. He also had a small role in the 1954 Hollywood film The Barefoot Contessa, alongside Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner, and made a brief appearance in The Girl in the Yellow Pyjamas (1977). However, Staiola eventually left acting behind, choosing a quieter life. He became a mathematics teacher and later worked as a land registry clerk. Reflecting on his brush with stardom, he admitted it wasn't all glamour: 'As a kid I could never play with my friends because if I made a mark on my face I couldn't make movies anymore. Then it was also a bit boring, the times of cinema are very long." Though he stepped away from the spotlight, Enzo Staiola's performance in Bicycle Thieves remains a timeless piece of cinema, and his portrayal of Bruno continues to move audiences generations later. Location : Rome, Italy First Published: June 07, 2025, 00:54 IST
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Judge says Weinstein juror complaining about jury strife cannot be excused
NEW YORK, - The judge overseeing former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape and sexual assault trial refused on Friday to dismiss a juror who said some jurors were treating others on the 12-person panel unfairly. "I just don't think it's fair and just," the juror told New York Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber in court, referring to things other jurors were saying and doing behind another juror's back. "There is a bit of a shunning happening," the juror said. The juror asked to be dismissed but Farber said there was no legal basis to do so after the juror confirmed that no one on the jury panel was pressuring him to change his view of the case. "If any other juror feels they need to talk to me, they can," the judge said. Weinstein's lawyers said they would make a proposal on how to address the matter later on Friday. Friday was the second day of jury deliberations. No other jurors were present during the exchange. Farber dismissed alternates from the jury on Thursday. Weinstein, 73, was convicted of rape by a Manhattan jury in February 2020, but the New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction and ordered a new trial, citing errors by the trial judge. Prosecutors say the Academy Award-winning producer raped aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and assaulted two other women in 2006 and 2002. Weinstein, who has denied ever having non-consensual sex or assaulting anyone, has pleaded not guilty. He faces up to 25 years in prison for two counts of criminal sexual acts and up to four years for one count of rape. Weinstein is already serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty in December 2022 of rape in a separate California case. Prosecutors with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have portrayed Weinstein as a serial predator who promised career advancement in Hollywood to women, only to then coax them into private settings where he attacked them. Weinstein's defense lawyers have said his encounters with the women were consensual and accused them of lying about being raped after failing to make it big in Hollywood by sleeping with him.
