Harvey Weinstein lawyers press bid for mistrial amid more jury deliberation tension

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NEW YORK — Lawyers for Harvey Weinstein on Monday continued their bid for a mistrial in the disgraced movie mogul’s rape and sexual assault retrial as another juror reached out to the judge to discuss the tense deliberations and declare they were “making headway.”

The weekend break did nothing to change the defense team’s stance that a Manhattan judge should shut down the six-week trial amid a juror’s concern about misconduct during deliberations.

Just days after a juror begged off the panel, the jury’s foreman said members were discussing matters outside the scope of the evidence.

“They are not on the same page,” the juror said, according to a transcript of his closed-door conversation with Judge Curtis Farber and the prosecution and defense teams. “They are talking about different things from the past. They fight together, and I don’t like it.”

Weinstein’s lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said the juror’s report was grounds for a mistrial.

“People are considering things that are not in this trial as evidence,” Weinstein’s attorney Arthur Aidala said. “They’re talking about the past.”

Aidala added, “there’s a tainted juror.”

Farber denied the motion.

Meanwhile, another juror told the judge they were making progress.

“I basically wanted to give the temperature,” she said. “The tone is very good today. We’re making headway.”

Tuesday’s deliberations ended without a verdict.

Weinstein, 73, is accused of raping a woman in 2013 and sexually assaulting two others 20 years ago. He has pleaded not guilty.

The fallen movie mogul and Miramax studio co-founder is accused of raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and assaulting two other women in 2002 and 2006.

More than 80 women, including actresses Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd, have accused Weinstein of sexual assault, harassment or other misconduct.

He faces up to 25 years in prison for two counts of criminal sexual acts and up to four years for one count of rape.

A Manhattan jury convicted Weinstein of rape and sexual assault charges in 2020 at the height of the #MeToo movement. But a state appeals court threw out the conviction in 2024, citing errors by the trial judge.

Weinstein is already serving a 16-year prison sentence after a California jury found him guilty of rape in December 2022.

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