Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley in a retrial that concluded Wednesday in Manhattan. The jury, however, acquitted him of separate charges, while deliberations on a key rape allegation remain ongoing.
The retrial involved allegations by three women: Haley, aspiring actress Jessica Mann, and former model Kaja Sokola. The jury of seven women and five men returned a guilty verdict on the Haley charge, found Weinstein not guilty of assaulting Sokola, and declared no decision yet on Mann’s rape accusation.
Weinstein, 73, sat motionless in a wheelchair as the verdicts were read, wearing his usual dark suit. As he was wheeled out of the courtroom, he reportedly muttered, “Not true.”
Tensions ran high throughout the day, with jury deliberations nearly derailed after one juror reported being threatened. “One other juror made comments to the effect, ‘I’ll meet you outside one day’,” Judge Curtis Farber revealed, quoting the foreman. Defense lawyer Arthur Aidala called for a mistrial, which was denied.
Speaking after the verdict, Haley condemned the defense’s tactics: “The victim shaming and deliberate attempts to distort the truth were exhausting and dehumanizing. But today’s verdict gives me hope.”
Weinstein, once one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood, was originally convicted in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years, but that conviction was overturned due to procedural errors. This retrial sought to revisit and reinforce the claims at the center of the case that helped ignite the global #MeToo movement.
His latest conviction is a milestone for that movement, which began after multiple women publicly accused Weinstein of sexual abuse in 2017. More than 80 women have since come forward with similar claims, triggering a seismic reckoning in the entertainment industry.
Weinstein is already serving a 16-year prison term in California for a separate conviction of rape. Any new sentence handed down will be added to his existing prison time.
Although Weinstein did not testify during this trial, he admitted in a previous interview to acting “immorally,” though he denied criminal wrongdoing.
Unlike the first trial, which drew major media attention and protests, this retrial played out more quietly, overshadowed in part by the high-profile trial of music executive Sean “Diddy” Combs taking place nearby.
Written By Rodney Mbua
