Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein guilty of sex crimes in NYC retrial
A jury in New York City has found Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced, former movie mogul, guilty on a sex crimes charge in a retrial after a state appeals court last year overturned its initial 2020 conviction, which had been an inflection point for the #MeToo movement.
Jurors, in a majority-female jury, reached their verdict Wednesday on the fifth day of at times quarrelsome deliberations. He was acquitted of another charge, and jurors were as yet unable to reach a verdict on a third charge.
Weinstein, once one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood, was accused by prosecutors of raping an aspiring actress and assaulting two other women.
The 73-year-old had pleaded not guilty and continues to deny assaulting anyone or having non-consensual sex, despite multiple women contending he did. More than 100 women, including famous actresses, have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct.
In closing arguments on June 3, the prosecution told the 12 jurors that the evidence showed how Weinstein used his power and influence to trap and abuse women.
The defence put forward that the accusers had lied on the stand out of a sort of spite after consensual sexual encounters failed to lead to Hollywood stardom.
The retrial began on April 23. Weinstein has had a litany of health problems and attended the retrial in a wheelchair.
In the retrial, Weinstein was charged with raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013, assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and assaulting Kaja Sokola in 2002 when she was a 16-year-old aspiring actress.
A jury had, in February 2020, found Weinstein guilty of raping Mann and sexually assaulting Haley. Sokola's allegation was not part of that case.
That high-profile conviction was critical to bolstering the #MeToo movement, which encouraged women to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by powerful men.
But the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, threw out that conviction in April 2024. 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.
Weinstein, however, has remained behind bars because of his 2022 rape conviction in California, which resulted in a 16-year prison sentence. He is still appealing that verdict.
Weinstein co-founded the Miramax studio, whose hit movies included 'Shakespeare in Love' and 'Pulp Fiction.'
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