HARVEY WEINSTEIN SEX ASSAULT RE-TRIAL YIELDS SPLIT VERDICT, FOR MOVIE MOGUL AND #METOO
WEINSTEIN WAS CONVICTED ON ONE COUNT, ACQUITTED OF A SECOND COUNT AND THE JURY REMAINS DEADLOCKED ON A THIRD CHARGE
Harvey Weinstein being perp-walked out of the NYPD’s First Precinct on May 25, 2018. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
New York, New York June 11, 2025 Last revised: 11:00pm.
The verdict on the #MeToo movement is in, and it's a mixed one.
Harvey Weinstein was convicted and acquitted of the sexual assault of two women in a Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday. The jury deadlocked on a charge the disgraced movie mogul raped a third woman, and its not clear the jury's deliberations would continue Thursday morning, when the trial is set to resume.
Members of Weinstein's jury screamed at each other and threatened to fight it out on the street in front of the courthouse, a juror who said he was threatened by another juror revealed in court, also on Wednesday.
"He say, 'You don't know [me]. You gonna see me outside,'" the juror, identified as Juror #1, told State Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber.
The racially-mixed Manhattan jury began their difficult deliberations last Thursday. During the trial, Miriam Haley testified Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006; Kaja Sokola that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in a hotel room, also in 2006; and Jessica Mann that Weinstein raped her in 2013.
The jury credited Haley, because it convicted him of sexually abusing her, but it disbelieved Sokola, because it acquitted Weinstein of abusing her. It couldn't reach a decision with respect to Mann's charge that he raped her.
Wednesday's dramatic events began with Juror #1 refusing to re-enter the jury room with the jury after being re-instructed on applicable law shortly before noon.
"I can't go back in there," the juror told Justice Farber from the jury box as the other 11 jurors departed for the deliberations room.
After a closed-door hearing with the juror, the judge, prosecutors and defense lawyers, Justice Farber declared his intention to instruct jurors to be nicer to each other. He also stated his intent to question jurors to see if they reached a unanimous verdict on any of the three charges.
That ‘s when Weinstein himself asked the court for permission to speak to it directly, instead of through his lawyers—as is usually the rule.
"This is my life that's on the line," Weinstein declared, "This is not fair."
Justice Farber let the defendant speak his whole, entire peace, which lasted almost three minutes. After hearing Weinstein out, the judge replied that contentious deliberations were commonplace. He did acknowledge, however, the jury needed a break.
Tensions were so high among jury members that when Justice Farber floated what he called a “proposal” to let the jury go outside for lunch so they could cool down, a high-ranking court officer vetoed the plan because he said each juror would have to be accompanied by a court officer to ensure everyone’s safety and he couldn’t spare the 12 officers needed to do it.
Justice Farber decided to send the jury home for the day instead.
Before he did, he asked the jury whether they had reached a verdict on any of the three counts of sexual assault Weinstein was charged with. They answered with a courtroom bombshell: they had reached a verdict on the two charges brought by Haley and Sokola.
Weinstein, sitting in a wheelchair with a pale, ghost-like palor, clasped his hands together as if praying for a miracle as the jury foreman read the split verdict. Then a court clerk polled each individual juror to confirm their votes.
Before the jury left, the judge told them they were expected to return to resume deliberating on Mann's allegations Thursday morning. But later he told Juror #1 he would not be required to resume deliberating with the rest of the jury. If Juror #1 does not rejoin the jury on Thursday, its not clear how the re-trial could continue on Mann's rape charge.
Justice Farber might have no choice but to declare a mistrial on that charge. Prosecutors might have to decide whether to re-try Weinstein, for a third time.
Harvey Weinstein being perp-walked into Manhattan Criminal Court on May 25, 2018. Photo credit: JB Nicholas.
Because the jury remains deadlocked on Mann's rape charge, Justice Farber imposed a gag order on both prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office and Weinstein's team of defense lawyers, led by Arthur L. Aidala. Neither commented on Wednesday.
Haley herself was free to speak.
“I’m so grateful to the jury,” she declared outside the downtown Manhattan courthouse after the dramatic turn of events. “I hope it is finally over.”
The New Yorker magazine is largely credited as igniting the #MeToo Movement by publishing a 2017 report by Ronan Farrow, From Aggressive Overtures to Sexual Assault: Harvey Weinstein’s Accusers Tell Their Stories. It lit a fire under the NYPD to re-open a stalled investigation into Weinstein which in turn led to his May 25, 2018 arrest.
Weinstein went to trial for allegedly abusing Haley and Mann the first time in 2020.
The judge in that trial also allowed Annabella Sciorra to testify Weinstein raped her in 1993 or 1994. He was convicted of raping Mann and sexually abusing Haley. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison. But in a stunning reversal of fortune, New York's highest court found Weinstein was denied a fair trial because the judge wrongly allowed Sciorra to testify even though Weinstein was not charged with raping her—the statute of limitation had expired.
That led to the retrial on Haley’s and Mann’s charges, which began in April. This time, Sciorra was not permitted to testify. Prosecutors replaced her with Sokola—who, as noted, jurors did not believe.
Weinstein was convicted of sexual assault in California in 2022 and sentenced to 16 years in prison there. His appeal remains under consideration.
When it was over, court officers rolled the 73-year-old defendant out of the courtroom in his wheelchair and back his prison cell at Bellevue Hospital. Weinstein never looked back.
It wouldn't have mattered if he had: no one was there for him.
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