The jury reached a partial verdict in Harvey Weinstein’s New York sex crimes retrial, finding him guilty on one of the three charges he faced — but has been ordered to continue deliberating on another charge.
On day five of deliberations, the jury on Wednesday found Weinstein guilty of first-degree criminal sexual act in regards to victim Miriam Haley, and not guilty of criminal sex act in connection to Koja Sokola’s allegations.
However, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the third charge of third-degree rape, in connection to Jessica Mann. The judge ordered the jury to continue deliberating the rape charge when it reconvenes on Thursday.
After the court was adjourned, Mann told reporters that the verdict “gives me hope” and it “empowers others to speak out and seek justice to those predators who still believe they can exploit abuse and walk away unscathed.”
The split verdict came after another day of jury room drama, as Juror #1 said in a meeting with the judge, prosecution and defense that there had been more fighting among members of the jury. The infighting appeared to be centered around a juror who “made it clear he is not going to change his position, whatever his position is,” according to the judge.
The judge said that the juror appeared to threaten one of the others, telling the other person along the lines of “meet me outside one day.” The judge recommended a cooling off period in the afternoon, before having the jury read the partial verdict that had been reached.
The group had been deliberating since June 5, tasked with deciding — again — a case that encapsulated the #MeToo movement.
The seven-woman, five-man jury had been considering two counts of criminal sex act and one count of rape, each relating to a different accuser and a different date. In this case, the criminal sex act charge is the higher degree felony. The jury got the case after a juror was replaced by an alternate when an illness kept her from court.
Weinstein, 73, pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Nearly eight years ago, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against the Oscar-winning movie producer propelled the #MeToo movement. Some of those accusations later generated criminal charges and convictions in New York and California.
The New York conviction from 2020 was subsequently overturned, leading to the retrial before a new jury and a different judge.
“The real hero of this case is Mimi Haley, because he was convicted not once, but twice, based on her testimony,” said Haley’s attorney, Gloria Allred.
Jurors heard more than five weeks of testimony, including lengthy and sometimes fiery questioning of Weinstein’s three accusers in the case.
Jessica Mann said he raped her in 2013, when she was trying to build an acting career. Miriam Haley accused him of forcibly performing oral sex on her in 2006, when she was looking for work in entertainment production.
Kaja Sokola, who wasn’t involved in Weinstein’s first trial, told jurors that he forced oral sex on her, too, during 2006. At the time, she was a teenage fashion model trying to break into acting.
The jury found Weinstein guilty of criminal sex act against Haley, but not guilty of criminal sex act against Sokola. It was unable to reach a verdict on the rape charge against him, and will continue deliberating.
After the verdict, Sokola said in a statement that she was “relieved that Harvey Weinstein will be held accountable for some of his crimes and I thank the District Attorney’s office for their dedication to this case. Harvey Weinstein will remain behind bars and that is a win.”
An attorney for Sokola called the verdict “a step toward justice — even if it is not a complete one.
“That Weinstein will face consequences and stay in prison is a victory for the brave women who testified and for survivors everywhere. But the legal system doesn’t always deliver complete justice, and that’s why Kaja’s voice—and the voices of other survivors—remain so essential,” said attorney Lindsay Goldbrum. “This is the third time a jury has found Harvey Weinstein guilty of sexual assault. Kaja may not have received the verdict she deserved, but her truth was heard, and it helped bring down a man who believed he was untouchable.”
Because they were first-degree charges, the criminal sexual act charges were the most serious charges Weinstein faced.
“They all had dreams of pursuing careers in the defendant’s world, the entertainment industry,” prosecutor Nicole Blumberg told jurors in her closing argument Tuesday. She contended that Weinstein let the women think he was interested in their careers when what actually interested him were their bodies, and “he was going to have their bodies and touch their bodies whether they wanted him to or not.”
Weinstein chose not to testify. His defense called other witnesses, including some former friends of Sokola’s and Mann’s.
Weinstein’s attorneys argued that all three accusers consented to Weinstein’s advances because they wanted help with their Hollywood aims. All three stayed on friendly terms with him afterward, a point the defense emphasized.
“It’s transactional, folks. Yes, he wants to fool around with them, and yes, they want something from him,” defense lawyer Arthur Aidala said in his summation last week.
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