Weinstein jury to begin fifth day of deliberations after suggesting they are at odds on two of the five charges in the disgraced Hollywood mogul’s case
- The jury in Harvey Weinstein’s New York rape trial will begin their fifth day of deliberations on Monday
- Deliberations will resume after jurors suggested they are at odds on the most serious charges in the disgraced Hollywood’s mogul’s case
- Jurors sent a note late Friday asking if it was permissible for them to be hung on two counts of predatory sexual assault but unanimous on three other charges
- Judge responded by ordering the jury to continue deliberating and try to reach a consensus
The Harvey Weinstein jury are expected to begin their fifth day of deliberations on Monday after suggesting they are at odds on the most serious charges in the disgraced Hollywood’s mogul’s case.
Jurors sent a note late Friday asking if it was permissible for them to be hung on two counts of predatory sexual assault while reaching a unanimous verdict on the three other lesser charges.
The judge responded by ordering the jury to keep deliberating and try to reach a consensus, but the query still sparked speculation that the trial could end with a partial verdict by the end of Monday or else lurch forward with no clear end in sight.
Previous notes sent during last week’s deliberations suggested the jury was focused on a key aspect of both predatory sexual assault counts – Sopranos actress Annabella Sciorra’s allegations that Weinstein raped her in the mid-1990s.
Harvey Weinstein arrives at court in New York on Monday as the jury is expected to continue day five of deliberations in his rape trial
The jury must factor in Sciorra’s account, along with claims Weinstein raped aspiring actress Jesscia Mann in 2013 and sexually assaulted former TV production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006 to find him guilty of predatory sexual assault.
Weinstein is charged with five counts stemming from the allegations of Sciorra and the two other women.
While Sciorra’s accusation is too old to be charged on its own because of the statute of limitations, it is a key component of the most serious charges that jurors are weighing in the closely watched #MeToo case.
Her rape allegation is the basis for the two counts of predatory sexual assault – a charge that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
To convict Weinstein of that charge, jurors must agree on two things: that Weinstein raped Sciorra and that he committed one of the other charged offenses related to Mann or Haleyi.
He is also facing two rape charges for Mann’s accusations and a criminal sexual assault charge for Haleyi’s forced oral sex allegation.
The Weinstein jury are expected to begin their fifth day of deliberations on Monday after suggesting they are at odds on the most serious charges in the disgraced Hollywood’s mogul’s case
Weinstein arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court for his sexual assault trial on Monday. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintains any sexual encounter was consensual
Weinstein has maintained any sexual encounters were consensual.
The jury appeared to focus on Sciorra’s allegations on Thursday and Friday by asking to review extensive evidence related to her.
Sciorra was the first accuser to testify and took the witness stand nearly a month ago, telling jurors how the once-powerful movie mogul showed up unexpectedly at the door of her Manhattan apartment before barging in and raping and forcibly performing oral sex on her in late 1993 or early 1994.
During the weeks-long trial, Haleyi testified that Weinstein invited her to his Manhattan home in 2006 and then backed her into a bedroom and forcibly performed oral sex on her.
Mann said that soon after meeting Weinstein she began an ‘extremely degrading’ relationship with him that never included intercourse until, she alleged, he raped her in March 2013.