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.
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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
Philip Marcelo, The Associated Press
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