Harvey Weinstein found guilty of one charge of sexual assault

A jury in New York has reached a verdict on multiple sexual assault charges levelled against the disgraced Hollywood behemoth.

Disgraced Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of one sexual assault on Wednesday, US time, and not guilty of another, with jurors still considering a rape charge at his retrial at which three women recounted in graphic detail how he victimised them.

Weinstein was retried for offences against two women, Jessica Mann whom he is alleged to have raped, and Miriam Haley whom he was found to have sexually assaulted, alongside new charges of assaulting ex-model Kaja Sokola.

He was found not guilty of those new charges at the tense proceeding in a Manhattan court on Wednesday.

Delivering the verdict of the seven women and five men of the jury on the Haley count, the foreman said: “Guilty”.

He shook his head when he was asked for a verdict on the rape of Mann, and said “not guilty” on the Sokola count.

Former Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of one sexual assault. Picture: Angela Weiss/Pool/AFP

Weinstein looked on, seated in a wheelchair and wearing a dark suit as he has done throughout the six weeks of hearings.

But later the 73-year-old appeared to mutter “Not true” as he was wheeled out of court.

The judge ordered the legal teams for both sides not to speak to the media as the jury continued to deliberate on the outstanding charge.

Lawyer Megan Goddard, Kaja Sokola and lawyer Lindsay Goldbrum speak during a press conference outside Manhattan criminal court. Picture: AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

The Oscar-winner’s conviction is a vindication for Ms Haley, whose complaint in part led to the initial guilty verdict in 2020, and helped fire the MeToo movement that saw an outpouring of allegations from prominent women who were abused by men.

Weinstein underwent a spectacular fall from his position astride the world of Hollywood and show business in 2017 when the first allegations against him exploded into public view.

The movement up-ended the film industry, exposing the systemic exploitation of young women seeking to work in entertainment, and provoking a reckoning on how to end the toxic culture.

More than 80 women accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct in the wake of the global backlash against men abusing positions of power.

Gloria Allred and Mimi Haley. Picture: AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

Following the verdict, Ms Haley told reporters that the defence’s “victim-shaming and deliberate attempts to distort the truth was exhausting and at times dehumanising”.

“But today’s verdict gives me hope, hope that there is new awareness around sexual violence and that the myth of the ‘perfect victim’ is fading,” Ms Haley said.

Jurors squabbling ahead of verdict

The verdicts came after a dramatic morning in which tensions in the jury deliberation room spilled into the open.

The foreman had told Judge Curtis Farber he could not continue after facing threats from his counterparts.

“One other juror made comments to the effect (of) ‘I’ll meet you outside one day’,” the Judge said, quoting the foreman, and adding there was yelling between jurors.

After Weinstein’s lawyer Arthur Aidala heatedly demanded a mistrial over jury rupture, Weinstein himself addressed the court, deploying a commanding voice reminiscent of the heyday of his Hollywood power.

“We’ve heard threats, violence, intimidation – this is not right for me … the person who is on trial here,” he said.

“My lawyers, the District Attorney’s lawyers can fight all they want, (but) this is my life that’s on the line and it’s not fair.

“It’s time, it’s time, it’s time, your honour, to say this trial is over.”

Judge Farber responded that while unusual, disputes between jurors were not unheard of, before pressing on to hear the jury’s partial verdict.

Weinstein at the 86th Academy Awards in 2014. Picture: AFP Photo/Robyn Beck

With the cast of his film Shakespeare In Love at the 1995 Oscars. Picture: The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Weinstein’s original 2020 conviction, and the resulting 23-year prison term, was thrown out last year after an appeals court found irregularities in the way witnesses were presented.

Throughout the trial that began on April 15, Weinstein’s lawyer argued that the context had shifted since the first proceedings.

While the MeToo movement was “the most important thing in society” back then, “I think people’s heads are in a different place right now”, Mr Aidala said.

Any sentence will be in addition to the 16-year term Weinstein is already serving after being convicted in California of raping a European actor over a decade ago.

Weinstein, the producer of box office hits like Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love, did not take the stand during his retrial, but did acknowledge in an interview he acted “immorally”.

The retrial played out with far less public attention than the initial proceedings, when daily protests against sexual violence were staged outside the court.

This time, the case was eclipsed by the blockbuster trial of hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs taking place at an adjacent courthouse.

Originally published as Harvey Weinstein found guilty of one charge of sexual assault