After the jury foreperson refused to continue deliberations due to an alleged threat by another juror, the judge in the retrial for Harvey Weinstein's sex crimes case has declared a mistrial on the remaining rape charge.
The women-led jury were unable to reach a unanimous decision on the count of third-degree rape based on the accusations of actor and hairstylist Jessica Mann. As she did in 2020, she testified for days about an alleged 2013 rape she endured at Weinstein's hands in a Manhattan hotel room, and why she went on to have consensual encounters with him afterward.
The disgraced film producer was found guilty of sexually abusing Mann in the previous trial, from which the convictions were overturned in April of last year. She's ready to go to trial for a third time, according to prosecutor Nicole Blumberg [via CBC].
This time, the jury delivered its verdict on the two other charges Weinstein was facing: yesterday (June 11), he was convicted of committing a criminal sexual act against Miriam Haley, but acquitted of sexually assaulting Kaja Sokola. Weinstein had previously been found guilty of sexually abusing the former, who alleged that he had forcibly sexually assaulted her at his apartment in 2006.
Sokola did not testify at the 2020 trial, first being identified by the prosecution during opening arguments in April. Her testimony saw her describe two alleged sexual assaults by Weinstein: one in 2002, when she was 16, and another in 2006 (the latter incident being the charge he was faced in the retrial).
The jury foreperson complained yesterday (June 11) that he felt bullied by another juror, and said today that he wouldn't go back into the jury room. A new trial date has yet to be set.