Harvey Weinstein Convicted of Sex Assault in Mixed Verdict (2)

Harvey Weinstein was convicted of sexual assault in New York for a second time on Wednesday but acquitted of a second sexual assault charge. Jurors will continue deliberating on a rape charge.

The 12-person Manhattan jury—seven men and five women—returned the partial verdict after five days of deliberations. Weinstein held his hands clasped together and rested his head on them as the verdict was read.

The criminal sexual act charge he was found guilty of carries a sentence of up to 25 years.

The conviction stems from an allegation that he forced oral sex on ex-production assistant Miriam Haley. He was also convicted of assaulting Haley at his 2020 trial.

The acquittal stems from an allegation by a new accuser who didn’t testify at the first trial. That accuser, model Kaja Sokola, said Weinstein forced oral sex on her while she was an aspiring actress.

The jury is still deliberating on a charge that he raped a former aspiring actress, Jessica Mann. Weinstein was convicted of raping Mann at the 2020 trial.

The mixed, partial verdict capped a tumultuous morning in court.

The jury was excused for the day after the foreperson said he was threatened by another juror. Judge Curtis Farber said the jurors needed a cooling-off period before resuming.

The foreperson told the judge that a fellow juror said “something to the effect of I’ll meet you outside one day,” the judge said.

Before the verdict was read, Weinstein pleaded directly with the judge for a mistrial ending the case.

“Your honor, this is a profile in courage moment for you,” he said. “This isn’t right. My life’s on the line. You are endangering me, your Honor. I’m not getting a fair trial.”

The case was seen partly as a litmus test for the endurance of #MeToo movement. But with one acquittal, one conviction, and one charge outstanding, it wasn’t clear what the partial verdict said about the movement that allegations against Weinstein helped jumpstart.

Sokola’s attorney, Lindsay Goldbrum, issued a statement calling it a “step toward justice” but “not a complete one.”

Farber told prosecutors and Weinstein’s defense attorneys not to speak with media because deliberations are ongoing. The jury is due back on Thursday to continue deliberations.

Weinstein’s 2020 conviction, which had been seen as a victory for the #MeToo movement, was overturned last year by New York’s highest court. The court said Weinstein didn’t get a fair trial because women testified to sexual misconduct that wasn’t part of the charges.

This time, the six-week trial was held long after the height of the #MeToo movement and didn’t include accusations beyond the three women.

Potential divisions among jurors were apparent as far back as jury selection, when some potential jurors called the Miramax co-founder a “pig,” while others said #MeToo had led to false assault allegations.

During deliberations, jurors signaled they were clashing, sending notes saying they were being “attacked” or shunned by fellow jurors.

But ultimately they reached consensus on two of the three charges. The rape charge that’s still outstanding carries less time—four years—than the sexual assault charge he’s now convicted of again.

Weinstein, 73, has been in a wheelchair throughout the trial and says he has cancer. He’s been housed in a hospital prison ward rather than Rikers Island.

He’s also facing 16 years in prison in California for a separate conviction there on appeal.