Weinstein Mistrial Declared as Jury Foreperson 'Bails Out'

The judge in Harvey Weinstein's sex crimes case declared a mistrial on the remaining rape charge after the jury foreperson said he wouldn't continue deliberating. Deliberations were ended Thursday, a day after the jury delivered a partial verdict in Weinstein's sex crimes retrial, convicting the ex-studio boss of one of the top charges but acquitted him of another. Both of those charges concerned accusations of forcing oral sex on women in 2006. Those verdicts still stand.

• The jury got stuck on a third charge involving accusations from Jessica Mann. The hairstylist and actor testified for days—as she did in 2020—about the rape she said she endured in a Manhattan hotel room and about why she continued to see and have consensual encounters with Weinstein afterward, the AP reports.
• Mann is "ready and willing and wants to retry this count," prosecutors said after the mistrial was declared, per the Hollywood Reporter. A hearing was set for July 2.

• The foreperson complained Wednesday that he felt bullied by another juror and said Thursday he wouldn't go back into the jury room. "No. I'm sorry," he said when asked.
• The jury of seven women and five men had unanimously reached decisions on the other charges last Friday, the foreperson told the judge. The verdict was delivered Wednesday only because Judge Curtis Farber asked whether there was agreement on any of the charges.
• Farber thanked the jury for their service Thursday and released them, the New York Times reports. "Sometimes jury deliberations become heated," he said. "I understand this particular deliberation was more heated than some others. That's unfortunate." After declaring a mistrial, he said he had spoken to other jurors. He said they were "extremely disappointed" and didn't understand why the foreperson had "bailed out."
• Miriam Haley, the producer and production assistant whom Weinstein was convicted—twice, now—of sexually assaulting, said outside court Wednesday that the new verdict "gives me hope." Accuser Kaja Sokola also called it "a big win for everyone," even though Weinstein was acquitted of forcibly performing oral sex on her when she was a 19-year-old fashion model. Her allegation was added to the case after the retrial was ordered.

(More Harvey Weinstein stories.)