The jury in Harvey Weinstein's rape retrial indicated on Friday that it was at an impasse, yet the presiding judge instructed the panel to persist in its efforts to reach a verdict in this closely watched #MeToo-era case. Signs of a stalemate emerged just a few hours into the third day of deliberations, as jurors submitted a note stating they 'have concluded that they cannot reach a verdict.' Judge Curtis Farber directed the group to continue deliberating, a standard practice in New York courts when a jury initially reports being deadlocked.
The jurors subsequently returned to their closed-door discussions. Their task is to determine whether Weinstein, the former movie mogul who became emblematic of the #MeToo movement's campaign against sexual misconduct, raped hairstylist and actor Jessica Mann in a Manhattan hotel room in March 2013. An appeals court had overturned his 2020 New York conviction, which involved charges related to Mann and another accuser. During a retrial last year, the jury failed to reach a verdict on Mann's allegations, leading to the current retrial. Weinstein faces a single count of rape in the third degree.
Mann, now 40, testified that she engaged in some consensual sexual encounters with the then-married producer but that he subjected her to unwanted sex on that particular day after she repeatedly refused. Weinstein's legal team maintains that the encounter was consensual, emphasizing that Mann continued to see Weinstein afterward and expressed warmth toward him. Mann has stated that she was caught in a web of complicated emotions regarding him, herself, and the events.
Her perspective shifted in 2017 when a series of allegations against the Oscar-winning Weinstein propelled the #MeToo movement. Some of those accusations led to criminal convictions against Weinstein in New York and California. Weinstein, now 74, has acknowledged that he 'acted wrongly' but denies ever assaulting anyone. The current jury heard nearly three weeks of testimony, including five days from Mann. Weinstein did not testify. The Associated Press generally does not identify individuals who allege sexual assault, but Mann has consented to being named.
