Mistrial declared in Harvey Weinstein NYC Jessica Mann rape trial

A Manhattan judge declared a mistrial Friday at Harvey Weinstein’s rape retrial after a jury became “hopelessly deadlocked” over whether the disgraced producer was guilty of an attack on Jessica Mann, less than a year after his last trial ended in the same result.

The eight men and four women on the jury, who got the case Wednesday, informed the court of the impasse shortly into Friday’s deliberations. Justice Curtis Farber directed them to keep trying, but the panel soon after sent another note saying, “No one is going to change where they stand.”

Farber granted Weinstein’s lawyers’ request for a mistrial, saying it was evident the jury was “hopelessly deadlocked” and that continuing the trial could be viewed as coercive.

Members of the panel later told the Daily News that nine jurors felt they had to acquit Weinstein based on the grounds of reasonable doubt, while three men of varying ages were adamant he was guilty.

Josh Hadar, 57, a sculptor and real estate investor, said he felt there were inconsistencies between Mann’s account during direct examination with the prosecution and her cross-examination with Weinstein’s lawyer, Teny Geragos.

“It was not whether this happened or not. That never really became the issue — whether the offense happened or not,” he added. “It was really about whether there was enough reasonable doubt to acquit or find him guilty.”

Mann, 40, was among the first two women Weinstein was charged with assaulting after his high-profile arrest in 2018. The Washington native, a hair stylist and actor, spent five days testifying about the alleged March 18, 2013, attack at the DoubleTree Hotel on Lexington Ave, in which she said Weinstein violently forced himself on her after trapping her in a room. It was her third time taking the stand this decade.

She has long alleged that the Miramax founder violently attacked her in Manhattan after taking her on as a protégé when they met weeks before by chance at a party in Los Angeles, and that he later sexually assaulted her in California. Only the Manhattan incident was charged.

In a statement, Mann said she had subjected herself to “unbearable public scrutiny” three times because she was telling the truth and deserved justice.

“I chose to testify in three trials because I am telling the truth,” she said. “For years, I have had to relive some of the hardest moments of my life while facing attempts to shame, humiliate and discredit me in open court. I submitted myself to the highest standards, transparency and accountability in coming forward through the justice system — choosing integrity even when the process flayed me open.”

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said he was disappointed and was consulting with Mann about whether to retry the case. Weinstein, for decades considered the most powerful man in Hollywood, will remain behind bars regardless for his separate convictions in New York and California.

“Over the course of many weeks during three separate trials, she relived unthinkably painful experiences in front of complete strangers,” Bragg said. “Her perseverance and bravery are inspiring to the members of my office, and more importantly, to survivors everywhere.”

The 74-year-old Weinstein, who’s battled cancer and a number of health setbacks since his first prosecution, had no emotional reaction as his third New York case ended in a mistrial, nor when he was transported back to the courthouse holding cells in his wheelchair.

He is yet to be sentenced for his 2025 conviction for sexually assaulting Miriam Haley, a former “Project Runway” assistant, and has yet to begin serving a 16-year prison sentence in California following his 2022 conviction for raping and sexually assaulting Italian model and actor Evgeniya Chernyshova in early 2013.

Outside the courthouse, defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said he was disappointed not to win an acquittal but gratified that the majority of jurors believed Weinstein not guilty.

He said he would implore Bragg’s office not to bring the case again.

“We think our chances on any retrial are just outstanding,” Agnifilo said. “It’s our job not just to win this case. There’s an entire legal knot that needs to be untangled, and we’re gonna start untangling that knot, strand by strand, with the New York case first and then the California case. So this really is just a first step.”

More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of rape and sexual assault since the allegations first made headlines in late 2017, catalyzing the global #MeToo campaign against sexual abuse and harassment in the workplace. As it stands, he has been held criminally liable for harming two women.

His initial conviction in 2020 for raping Mann and sexually assaulting Haley at his SoHo loft in 2006 was tossed in 2024 by New York’s highest court, which found the trial court judge shouldn’t have allowed testimony from three women about a series of sexual assaults that didn’t make up part of the charges.

When the New York case was tried again last year, Weinstein was convicted again of the attack on Haley. After particularly fraught deliberations, the panel said it couldn’t agree on Mann, and Farber declared a mistrial.

Unlike in the previous cases, Mann’s testimony this time around was isolated from the tapestry of sexual violence allegations Weinstein has faced in the last decade. She faced endless questions and brutal cross-examinations at all three trials about consenting to other encounters with Weinstein in the years that followed the alleged attacks.

The jury heard extensive testimony from Mann about growing up poor, being raped at 16, and the lack of prospects she had when she first met the Oscar-winning producer, circumstances that the prosecution said primed her for Weinstein’s predation.

While conceding she had grown to love the much-older Weinstein during a volatile, yearslong relationship, Mann steadfastly maintained that the 2013 incidents happened against her will. Weinstein’s defense countered that the Double Tree episode was consensual.

Jurors who voted to acquit Weinstein convened for a debrief at Pasquale Jones restaurant in Little Italy hours after they were excused. Speaking to The News, they said 13 out of 17 people selected to weigh the case, including alternate jurors, believed the prosecution hadn’t met its burden. Efforts to reach the three jurors who voted to convict were unsuccessful.

“I had a lot of sympathy for her,” said the panel’s youngest member, Sarae Perez, 25. “It all came down to the credibility of her testimony. The three thought her testimony was credible; they had no reason to doubt it. And then the rest (of us) felt certain things on the stand were a little performative — or maybe evasive or lying — and we didn’t know, so that created a level of doubt that really mattered.”

Kiran Nagesh, 54, said the decision was not easy or comfortable to make, but that it was the conclusion the majority reached when following Farber’s instructions.

“For all the jurors, this was such a grueling experience because you’re talking about somebody who’s been working through this trauma for the last 13 years,” Nagesh said. “And we tried, but then the evidence has to prove itself out — the facts have to prove themselves out so that we can weigh one way or the other.”

“It still weighs on us because it’s been open-ended, and it’s still open-ended after three attempts. I think it heavily weighs on all of us.”