USA Weinstein trial ends with dispute and split verdict
The retrial of former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has ended with a split verdict and a divided jury. The twelve jurors told the court in New York that they could not agree on a rape charge.
12.06.2025, 18:52
SDA
On Wednesday, after several days of deliberations, the jurors had already announced their decisions on two other charges: They considered it proven that the now 73-year-old had once committed serious sexual offenses against a woman.
The jury found him not guilty on a further charge of serious sexual offenses against a second woman.
Jury dispute behind the scenes
On the third count of rape, the judge had initially asked the jury to deliberate further - but then accepted their explanation that they could not agree.
The foreman of the jury had previously refused to deliberate any further - he had told the judge that there was only shouting and that he felt threatened by the other jurors.
In recent days, there had already been repeated reports of disagreements and differences of opinion within the jury.
"Sometimes jury deliberations get heated," said Judge Curtis Farber. "As I understand it, these deliberations were even more heated than others. That's a shame." The trial is now over for the time being. As usual, the sentence will be announced at a later date.
The public prosecutor's office has shown itself willing to reopen the rape charge, while the defense wants it to be dropped. Judge Farber set a court date for July 2 to discuss the matter.
Regardless of the outcome of the trial in New York, Weinstein, who is in poor health, will remain in custody. In 2023, he was sentenced to a further 16 years in prison in a separate criminal case in California. The prosecution accused him of sexual assault there too. His defense has also appealed against this verdict.
Guilty verdict from 2020 was overturned
An appeals court in the state of New York had surprisingly overturned the original 2020 conviction against Weinstein for rape and criminal sexual conduct and the 23-year prison sentence last year - due to significant procedural errors.
The central point of criticism was the admission of several witness statements that were not the subject of the formal indictment and would therefore have unlawfully influenced the jury's verdict.
The trial was subsequently retried and the central charges were reopened. The prosecution relied on the testimony of three women in the trial, which lasted around six weeks.
Two of the women had already testified in the first trial, and this time a third main witness was added.
