Harvey Weinstein retrial partial verdict

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Jurors weighing the fate of disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein said Wednesday that they had unanimously found him guilty of sexually assaulting one woman and not guilty of assaulting another more than a decade ago.

But the jurors at Weinstein's retrial told the judge they were unable to reach a verdict on allegations he assaulted a third woman, and Judge Curtis Farber sent them home for the day and asked them to resume deliberating on Thursday.

Weinstein, 73, had denied all the charges and his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual.”

But the jury came to a different conclusion after five days of deliberations, during which the jury foreman told the judge several times they were having a hard time reaching a verdict and that several members of the panel had been clashing.

Before the partial verdict was announced, Weinstein suddenly asked to address the judge and made a last-minute plea, "this is not right for me, the person on trial here."

"Lawyers can fight all they want," Weinstein said, seated in his wheelchair. "This is my life on the line. It’s not fair. It’s that simple. It’s just not fair."

Farber agreed this "was not a typical deliberation but it does happen" and the result of the deliberations in the third case could wind up being in favor of Weinstein.

"It could be in my favor, but it’s not fair," Weinstein replied. "That’s the problem with this. ... This is over. "

Minutes later, the jurors returned to the courtroom and rendered a partial verdict.

Weinstein was found guilty of criminal sexual act for the 2006 attack on former “Project Runway” production assistant Miriam Haley.

But Weinstein was found not guilty of a second charge of criminal sexual act stemming from allegations brought by former Polish runway model Kaja Sokola, who told the court she too was assaulted by the producer in 2006.

The jury deadlocked on a rape in the third-degree charge that Weinstein was hit with for allegedly sexually assaulting former actress Jessica Mann.

Both Haley and Mann testified at Weinstein’s first trial in 2020. Sokola's charge was new to the retrial.

If this person wasn’t Harvey Weinstein, would we even be here?” Weinstein defense attorney Arthur Aidala asked during his closing argument in accusing the women of being grifters.

Prosecutors, however, said Weinstein preyed on young women trying to make it in Hollywood, sometimes repeatedly, and threatened to wreck their careers if they talked.

“He never had any interest in their careers,” Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg told the jury. “He had an interest in their bodies. And he was going to have their bodies and touch their bodies whether they had wanted him to or not."

The retrial of Harvey Weinstein ended abruptly Thursday when the jury foreman refused to join the deliberations on the remaining rape charge against the disgraced movie mogul.

New York state Judge Curtis Farber declared a mistrial and prosecutors vowed to try Weinstein again on the charge the jury had been deadlocked on, the third-degree rape charge that accused Weinstein of sexually assaulting former actor Jessica Mann.

The dramatic ending came a day after the jury announced it had unanimously found Weinstein guilty of sexually assaulting one woman and not guilty of assaulting another more than a decade ago. The verdicts on these two counts stand.

During the five days of deliberations, the jury foreman had reported to Farber that they were having a hard time reaching a verdict and that several members had been clashing.

Right before the partial verdict was unveiled Wednesday, the foreman told the court he’d been threatened by another member of the panel who told him, “You know me; you going to see me outside.”

When the jury returned Thursday to resume deliberations on the remaining charge, the jury foreman told Farber he was done.

"Are you willing to go back in today and continue deliberations," Farber asked.

"No, sorry," the foreman replied.

At that point, Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg asked for a mistrial and requested that Weinstein be retried on the rape charge again.

"If Weinstein wants to own up to the charge we can have discussion about that," Blumberg said. "But we are ready to retrial for rape in the third degree."

Weinstein defense attorney Arthur Aidala said his client had been through enough and there should be no third trial on this charge.

Farber, however, scheduled a status hearing for July 2.

With the proceeding over, Weinstein departed the courtroom in his wheelchair.

"Of course, Mr. Weinstein is disappointed," Aidala said after the proceeding. "He has maintained his innocence from the day I met him in 2019."

One of the male jurors, interviewed outside after the jury was dismissed, said they were split over the Mann rape allegation and that he was disappointed they couldn't reach a verdict.

"The third count was the hardest one," said the juror, who declined to give his name.

When asked about the foreman's claim that he was threatened, the juror said, "it wasn't as contentious as has been reported."

"It was a conversation," the juror said. "It was an animated conversation."

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg called the women who testified against Weinstein courageous and said his office will continue to pursue the third degree rape charge.

"This morning, after the judge declared the jury could not reach a verdict on rape in the third degree, we immediately informed the court that we are ready to go forward to trial again on that charge," Bragg said during a press conference.

Mann said in a statement following the mistrial that she would not back down.

“I will never give up on myself and making sure my voice — and the truth — is heard," Mann said. "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.”

Weinstein found himself on trial again after the state Court of Appeals last year overturned his landmark 2020 conviction for sexually abusing women.