Harvey Weinstein was a top film producer until sexual misconduct allegations led to his downfall

Weinstein's third New York rape trial ends in mistrial

· RTE.ie

Harvey Weinstein's third trial in New York over allegations he used his Hollywood clout to prey upon and sexually abuse women ended in a mistrial today, after a jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict on a charge he raped the aspiring actress Jessica Mann.

Weinstein, 74, is expected to remain behind bars due to his convictions in other cases.

Weinstein was a top film producer until sexual misconduct allegations led to his downfall and fueled a wider social movement that encouraged women to come forward with ‌accounts of sexual abuse by powerful ⁠men.

His most recent trial centred on allegations brought by the Manhattan district attorney's office that Weinstein raped Ms Mann in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013 while Ms Mann resisted and repeatedly said "no".

Weinstein had pleaded not guilty to one count of third-degree rape and has denied assaulting anyone or having non-consensual sex. His lawyers have argued that Ms Mann fabricated the rape allegation after regretting that her ‌consensual romance with Weinstein failed to advance her film career.

At his first trial in New York in 2020, Weinstein was convicted of raping Ms Mann and assaulting one time ⁠production assistant, Miriam Haley, in 2006. But the state's highest court overturned the conviction and Weinstein's 23-year ‌prison sentence after concluding he did not get a fair trial.

A Manhattan jury then convicted ⁠Weinstein of ‌sexually abusing Ms Haley at a trial in June 2025, but found him not guilty of assaulting former model Kaja Sokola.

The jury deadlocked on the third-degree rape charge accusing Weinstein of assaulting Ms Mann, leading Justice Curtis Farber to declare a mistrial on that count.

The retrial began ⁠in April.

During their third day of deliberations, jurors sent Mr Farber a note saying they were deadlocked. The ⁠judge urged them to keep trying to reach a verdict.

Mr Farber said outside the presence of the jury that it was clear they were "hopelessly deadlocked" and that there was no reason to keep them any longer.

Weinstein was also convicted of rape in California in 2022 and is serving a 16-year prison sentence. He is appealing that conviction and sentence.

The Miramax studio co-founder will face up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced for abusing Ms Haley.