For the second time in a year, jurors failed to reach a verdict on whether Harvey Weinstein raped Jessica Mann, prompting a Manhattan judge on Friday to declare a mistrial in one of the final unresolved chapters of the disgraced movie mogul’s sprawling sex crimes cases.
After two days of deliberations, the seven men and five women on the jury told the court they were unable to unanimously decide whether 74-year-old Weinstein was guilty of third-degree rape stemming from Mann’s allegations that he assaulted her at a Manhattan hotel in 2013. Weinstein’s lawyers argued that the encounter was consensual.
Justice Curtis Farber delivered an Allen charge, urging the panel to continue deliberating and reminding jurors that “it wasn’t meant to be easy.”
But by about 1 p.m., jurors informed the court they remained hopelessly deadlocked. Farber then declared a mistrial. A hearing was set for June 24 to learn whether prosecutors will choose to go to a fourth trial.
Weinstein’s public downfall in 2017, after dozens of women accused him of sexual misconduct, became a catalyst for the global #MeToo movement. Jurors in the retrial, however, only heard testimony related to Mann’s allegations.
Mann also played a central role in Weinstein’s landmark 2020 conviction in New York, which was later overturned in a split decision by the state’s highest court. A retrial on the same charge last year similarly ended in a mistrial.
Despite the mistrial, Weinstein still faces significant prison time after jurors in his 2025 retrial convicted him of sexually assaulting former “Project Runway” production assistant Miriam Haley. He faces up to 25 years in prison on that conviction.
Weinstein is also serving a separate 16-year sentence in California following his 2022 conviction in Los Angeles for raping and sexually assaulting Italian model and actor Evgeniya Chernyshova. He is expected to return to California custody before serving any New York prison sentence.
About the Author
