Harvey Weinstein's New York Case Isn't Over Yet
There's one conviction in Harvey Weinstein's New York criminal case, but the saga continues.
A jury of 12 had found Weinstein guilty Wednesday of one count of a criminal sexual act against former Project Runway assistant Miriam Haley, but not guilty of the other count of a criminal sexual act against former model Kaja Sokola.
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The jurors were sent home Wednesday afternoon, amid inflamed tensions and one juror saying he was being threatened by others, with plans to resume deliberating the next day on the remaining charge of rape in the third degree. However, on Thursday, the juror refused to return to the deliberation room and a mistrial was called on that charge. Prosecutors said they plan to retry Weinstein on the rape charge.
The criminal sexual act conviction is a higher felony charge than rape in the third degree and carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years. Asked why the Manhattan District Attorney's office was still pursuing the retrial charge – which will be Weinstein's third trial on that charge – DA Alvin Bragg said it was on behalf of Jessica Mann, who was the complaining witness on that charge.
'It's about the survivors and, yes, Harvey Weinstein is going to be held accountable for his conduct as to Ms. Haley, and he's facing a very significant term of imprisonment for that, but the jury was not able to reach a conclusion as to Ms. Mann, and she deserves that,' Bragg said.
'I will never give up on myself and making sure my voice – and the truth – is heard. I have told the District Attorney I am ready, willing and able to endure this as many times as it takes for justice and accountability to be served. Today is not the end of my fight,' Mann said in a statement.
Mann also testified in Weinstein's 2020 trial, making this upcoming trial her third time on the stand. The verdict in Weinstein's 2020 rape and criminal sexual assault conviction was overturned in April 2024 after the court of appeals found the trial prejudiced Weinstein with improper rulings, including allowing women to testify about allegations that were not part of the case.
Conversely, Weinstein's attorney, Arthur Aidala, said his team is continuing to look into juror misconduct and file motions with Judge Curtis Farber to bring the jurors back in and try to find out what happened in the jury room. (He pushed for this many times over the past few days, but was denied by Farber.)
'None of us have ever heard of that, where a jury is so intimidating, a grown man who was in good physical shape in his late 30s, [says], 'I'm afraid to go back into the deliberating room'. If that doesn't cast doubt on the verdicts here, I don't know what would, so this is not over,' Aidala told press outside the courthouse.
The goal is to get the conviction thrown out. However, the jury had reached unanimous verdicts on the other two counts, and the foreperson had said in court that he was not coerced into those decisions.
If that doesn't happen, Aidala plans to appeal Weinstein's conviction on the one felony charge. He added that he did not know whether Weinstein will remain at Bellevue Hospital, where he's been throughout the trial, or return to Rikers.
Aidala's team has repeatedly pointed to their client's poor health over the past months, and he said that would also be something they bring up during sentencing. Weinstein also still faces a 16-year prison sentence in California, after being convicted in 2022 of rape and other sex crimes. Aidala's team has also appealed that conviction.
'Mr. Weinstein started off with a 23-year prison term when we left here on March 11 of [2020]. Those numbers are now out the window,' Aidala said. 'Of course, Mr. Weinstein is disappointed. He has maintained his innocence from the day I met him in 2019. In 2020, when I sat next to when the verdict came in guilty on [Miriam Haley] he said to me, 'How could this happen? I'm innocent. I'm innocent.' He basically said the same thing yesterday to Mr. Cibella who sat next to him.'
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