Jury begins deliberations in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial, but no verdict yet
Jury deliberations have begun in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial in New York, but the verdict will not come today.
The jury, made up of seven men and five women, deliberated for about five hours Tuesday without reaching a verdict and will return Wednesday morning.
Weinstein, 67, is charged with first-degree criminal sexual act, two counts of rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault. The charges are based on Miriam Haley’s testimony that Weinstein forced oral sex on her in 2006 and Jessica Mann’s testimony that he raped her in 2013 during what she described as an abusive relationship.
Some of the charges are structured as either/or counts, so Weinstein can only be convicted of two charges at most — one based on Mann’s allegations and one based on Haley’s.
Four other women, including actress Annabella Sciorra, also testified that Weinstein sexually attacked them as prosecutors sought to show that he used his power in the movie industry to prey on young, inexperienced women.
Sciorra’s testimony that he raped her in the winter of 1993-1994 is outside of the statute of limitations, but it can be used to support the predatory sexual assault charges, which requires serious sex crimes against at least two victims. Predatory sexual assault is punishable by up to life in prison.
However, Weinstein’s defense attorneys argued that the sexual encounters were consensual. As evidence, they pointed out that both Haley and Mann had sex with Weinstein after the alleged attacks, and they continued to have friendly contact with him for years afterward. He has also denied allegations of non-consensual sexual activity related to the other women.
The women’s testimonies highlighted thorny questions around consent and power dynamics at the heart of the #MeToo movement — questions that have rarely, if ever, been tested in a courtroom.
Jurors ask for clarification on charges
The jury deliberating in the case sent a lengthy note about 40 minutes after they started deliberations. The note asked the court for legal definitions of many of the terms in the charges, why the statute of limitations has not run for certain crimes, and questions that indicated they didn’t understand how the verdict was structured.
Later on Tuesday afternoon, the jury asked for a blueprint of Weinstein’s SoHo apartment, where he lived during alleged incidents involving Miriam Haley and Tarale Wulff.
Jurors also asked for a copy of all of the emails where certain women’s names are highlighted in red, referring to a list that was sent to Black Cube, an Israeli spy group that Weinstein hired to investigate allegations against him. Sciorra’s name was highlighted in red in the document, prosecutors said in the trial.
Prior to deliberations on Tuesday, the judge overseeing Weinstein’s trial ordered that his defense refrain from communicating with the public or press until there is a verdict in the case. The order came after the prosecution said that a Newsweek op-ed written by Weinstein’s lead attorney Donna Rotunno was improper and a violation of court rules.
Judge James Burke cautioned the team about what he called the “tentacles” of their “public relations juggernaut.”
Once an acclaimed producer of movies such as “Shakespeare in Love” and “Pulp Fiction,” Weinstein was accused by multiple women of a wide range of sexual misconduct in stories published in October 2017 in The New York Times and The New Yorker. A wave of similar claims against other influential men for allegedly abusing their power ensued in what is now known as the #MeToo movement.
Weinstein also faces charges of sexual assault and rape in separate incidents in Los Angeles.
