Harvey Weinstein retrial ends in mistrial over rape charge

The Harvey Weinstein retrial in New York took another dramatic turn Thursday when the judge declared a mistrial on the remaining rape charge, which the jury had yet to decide. 

The mistrial comes a day after the jury foreperson said he was threatened by another juror and did not feel safe. He was given a security detail when he returned to court Thursday, and the judge asked whether he felt he could keep deliberating, to which he replied, “No, I’m sorry.”

The judge then thanked the jury members for their time and said the decision to declare a mistrial did not reflect on them.

The jury had returned a partial verdict Wednesday, finding Weinstein guilty of criminal sexual assault against Miriam Haley and not guilty of criminal sexual assault against Kaja Sokola.

“We all felt like [Sokola] wasn’t credible,” juror Chantan Holmes said outside court Thursday. “If you look back, I cried. Her story was very, very strong, but the other time, her story was weak.”

The jury said Wednesday they had not yet reached a verdict on the remaining charge of third-degree rape against Jessica Mann, and the judge said they would continue deliberating Thursday. 

Jurors say they’re disappointed

Some jurors said they were disappointed as they left court, adding they took the case seriously and gave it their best.

“I had a great experience. Again, I’m disappointed we didn’t get to finish deliberating the third one,” one juror said.  

They said most of the jury felt Weinstein should be convicted of the remaining count, but it came down to one juror who did not want to change his mind.

“We thought it was going to be guilty, but things broke down, so we couldn’t, you know,” another juror said. “We made a lot of progress, especially with Jessica Mann, because there was a lot of info there. We were debating. We had a lot of readback. We were getting to a certain verdict, but, you know, things broke down.”

“He never worked with any of us to tell us what he was doing,” Holmes said. “The first time he went privately out there, we asked him, ‘What are you doing?’ And he wouldn’t tell us. And later we found out that he was trying to get out.”

“It started rocky. As I’m sure everybody knows by now, it was a rough couple days. Unfortunately, things broke down. A lot of good people in there, a lot of stuff happened,” said another juror.

Jurors described some friction, but not danger.

“It’s not like a fight was going to break out, no, obviously not. I think it was just high tension, you know? People were just tired,” one juror said. “You know, we were there for seven weeks. It’s cabin fever. You’re locked in a room … Most of us were just tired. The summer sun was coming out. I think most of us just wanted it to be over with.”

“His life wasn’t threatened, and that’s weird that he would go out and say that,” Holmes said. “We all put our time and effort in this. We spent seven weeks here.”

Weinstein did not appear to have much of a reaction to the mistrial ruling. The 73-year-old could now face another retrial on the rape charge. 

“He’s very strong willed. His mind is still sharp,” Weinstein’s publicist Juda Engelmayer said outside court. “His body is taking a little bit of a toll, but he’s a fighter.”

Manhattan DA’s office intends to retry the rape charge

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg held a news conference Thursday afternoon, saying his office intends to retry the rape charge. He said Mann is ready to go to trial for a third time and that she deserves a decision. 

“This is a case about an immense power imbalance. Harvey Weinstein was a wealthy Hollywood gatekeeper, a titan of movies and television for decades. These hopeful young women were trying to follow their dreams in a world that he controlled,” Bragg said. “This is a case about correcting commonly held misconceptions about rape. Rape can and does happen between acquaintances and between romantic partners. Rape can and does happen before or after consensual sex, and rape can and does happen years before a survivor is ready to report.”

“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 Thursday.

Weinstein’s team, meanwhile, said a third trial is unnecessary.

“Of course Mr. Weinstein is disappointed. He has maintained his innocence from the day I met him,” defense attorney Arthur Aidala said. “We have very powerful evidence that there was gross juror misconduct at this trial.”

Aidala said they also plan to file motions saying the guilty verdict for the criminal sexual assault charge must be thrown out based on jury misconduct, including jurors discussing information from the past that was not part of the trial.

“After three trials and 20 women, you have one conviction here, one. So maybe everyone was wrong to put Harvey Weinstein’s face on the picture of the #MeToo posters,” he said. “He’s never going to say that he raped Jessica Mann, who he had a five-year relationship with.”

A new trial date has not been set, but lawyers will return for a status hearing on July 2 to discuss the future of the case. 

When asked to comment about the disagreement among the jury, Bragg said a “vigorous and robust exchange of ideas within the jury room is an important hallmark of our jury system.”

Bragg also thanked each of the accusers for coming forward and sharing their difficult testimony, as well as the prosecutors, court staff and jury.

“Each spent days on the witness stand sharing the most traumatic moments of their lives in a room full of strangers. Their credibility and character were attacked during lengthy cross-examinations. They were accused of being money hungry. They were called liars. They were even told that they, in fact, were the abusers,” he said. “But they stood their ground, and for that I am extraordinarily grateful.”

He encouraged survivors of sexual assault to contact his office’s Special Victims Division at 212-335-9373.

Drama in the Weinstein jury deliberations

The deliberations among the seven women and five men on the jury were seemingly tense.

On June 6, one day after deliberations began, a juror asked to be removed over claims that some jurors were acting unfairly, but the judge denied the request.

Monday, a juror requested to speak with the judge privately. Wednesday, the jury foreperson asked to speak to the judge in private and alleged another juror had threatened him over his decision on the rape charge.

“Somebody talk to me, ‘Oh, we will see you outside,’ because I got my decision. I say, ‘No, that’s my personal decision. You don’t have to change me,'” the foreperson said, according to a transcript.  

The defense repeatedly called for a mistrial over the apparent problems among the jury, and Weinstein, himself, weighed in Wednesday.

“This isn’t fair. This isn’t right. I’m the one on trial. This is my life that’s on the line. I am not getting a fair trial. You are endangering me,” he said.

The judge asked the jury foreperson if he felt safe returning to court Thursday, and the jury foreperson said he did, but he was offered court-appointed security.

The jury requested the rules of a hung jury and other rules of deliberations earlier in the week.

The retrial of Harvey Weinstein

New York’s highest court overturned Weinstein’s 2020 conviction last year, ruling the judge in his first trial should not have allowed testimony from accusers who were not part of the criminal charges. Weinstein then spent months at the Rikers Island jail complex leading up to his retrial. 

Haley and Mann, who testified during the original trial, were back on the stand for the retrial. Sokola was not part of the first trial.

Mann alleges Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013. She said it happened during a consensual relationship that continued for years afterward, telling the jury she “compartmentalized” the pain he caused. Weinstein’s lawyers emphasized she kept seeing him, accepting invitations and sending him messages. 

“Rape can happen in relationships — and in dynamics where power and manipulation control the narrative,” Mann said in a statement Wednesday.

Haley testified Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in July 2006, and Sokola alleged he forcibly performed oral sex on her that same year when she was 19 years old.

“The defense set a very disruptive and chaotic tone from the very beginning of this trial, which I suppose was meant to distract jury from undeniable facts. And I’m so grateful that they saw through the nonsense and the antics,” Haley said after Wednesday’s partial verdict.

“I’m very happy he’s convicted. That’s all that matters,” said Sokola.

Haley reacted to the mistrial Thursday, saying she was just happy he was found guilty on one charge.

“I think it just comes down to, perhaps, evidence,” she said.

Weinstein, meanwhile, is appealing his 2022 sexual assault conviction in Los Angeles, where he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.