The jury in Harvey Weinstein’s sex crimes retrial delivered a split verdict against the disgraced movie mogul on Wednesday, convicting him of one charge, acquitting him of another, and failing to come to a consensus on a third.
Weinstein has been accused by numerous women of sexual harassment, assault, and misconduct over the span of about three decades. The accusations levied against him sparked the landmark #MeToo movement, and his convictions in New York on rape and sexual assault charges in 2020 and on sexual offenses in Los Angeles in 2022 were seen as victories for the movement. But last year, the case against him in New York was thrown into limbo when the state’s top court overturned his conviction and sent the case back to the Manhattan courthouse.
Here’s what to know about the case, and the jury’s Wednesday verdict.
Why was Weinstein being retried?
Weinstein was initially convicted in 2020 of sexual assault and rape in the third degree, and acquitted of predatory sexual assault and of first-degree rape. But in 2024, the New York Court of Appeals overturned his conviction, saying that the appointed judge had prejudiced Weinstein’s case by permitting prosecutors to bring women who were not directly tied to the charges to the stand.
Three women—Lauren Young, Dawn Dunning, and Tarale Wulff—testified in 2020 about their interactions with Weinstein. The testimony was permitted under a New York state law that allows testimony on “prior bad acts” to show behavioral trends.
But New York’s top court said that the three women’s testimonies “served no material non-propensity purpose.”
With Weinstein’s conviction overturned, the case went to a retrial.
What did the jury decide?
Jurors on Wednesday convicted the former movie mogul of forcibly subjecting a person to a criminal sex act, related to an incident in 2006. But they acquitted him of another criminal sex act charge stemming from a 2006 incident.
As of Wednesday afternoon, they were unable to reach a verdict on a charge that Weinstein raped a woman in 2013. Jurors are set to return to the courthouse on Thursday to continue deliberations for the remaining charge, the New York Times reported.
Weinstein, who has repeatedly denied sexually assaulting or raping anyone, had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
