Deliberations are continuing in Harvey Weinstein’s New York retrial, but a couple of jurors have raised concerns about the fairness of the trial and his defense team has pointed to possible juror misconduct.
“People are considering things that are not in this trial as evidence,” Weinstein’s attorney Arthur Aidala said. “They’re talking about the past.”
The foreperson then responded that the situation pertained to “something going on in the jury room,” before then talking with Weinstein’s defense team and prosecutors privately. After hearing from him, Arthur Aidala, Weinstein’s attorney moved for a mistrial, saying “there’s a tainted juror” and that jurors were discussing uncharged crimes and elements of Weinstein’s past. That motion was denied by Judge Curtis Farber.
“I need to talk to you about a situation which isn’t very good,” the jury foreperson had written in a note to the judge on Monday morning.
The jury also sent a note Monday morning asking for Farber to reread the rules of reasonable doubt and rules of deliberation “especially in terms of avoiding a hung jury.”
Deliberations in the case, where Weinstein faces one charge of rape and two criminal sexual acts, began last Thursday morning and continued Friday, before resuming Monday. Aidala has repeatedly called for a mistrial on these allegations, and more than a dozen others throughout the trial, but has been denied by Farber.
Prosecutors and the defense team have been carefully treading the Molineux rule, which generally prohibits using evidence of a defendant’s prior bad behavior to prove their propensity to commit the charges in question. In this case, the prosecution has been allowed to ask the three complaining witnesses about unwanted sexual encounters with Weinstein outside of the charged crimes. Farber reiterated to the jury Monday that this was not being offered as evidence of Weinstein’s propensity to commit crimes, but rather speaking to the relationship between the parties.
The October 2017 news reports, in which Weinstein’s alleged sexual assaults were uncovered, have also come up as part of the trial, but only when offered as the reason the three complaining witnesses came forward.
All of this comes after Weinstein’s 2020 rape and criminal sexual assault conviction was overturned in April 2024 after the court of appeals found the trial prejudiced Weinstein with improper rulings, including allowing women to testify about allegations that were not part of the case.
Despite the concerns Monday, another juror, number 10, sent a note asking to speak to the judge and said that “things are going well today.”
“The tone is very different today,” she said. “We’re making headway.”
This came after juror, who was juror number seven on this case and the youngest on the jury, had asked to address the court twice Friday, first saying he had heard jurors discussing another juror in the courtroom elevators, and then asking to be excused from the jury as he did not feel the process was “fair,” while staring at the defense table.
“In a good conscience, I don’t think this is fair and just,” the juror said.
While Farber was not permitted to ask about the content of what was said in the elevator or what exactly was not “fair and just,” the juror added that it was “playground stuff” happening behind closed doors and “there seems to be a bit of shunning happening.” He added that there was not a discussion of the evidence in the elevator.
Farber did not allow him to step down from the jury as the juror said that he personally was not being threatened and that this had not violated any rules given to the jury. He added that if he did excuse him the trial would end, and they’d have to “do the whole thing over again,” as all alternates had been dismissed.
A jury of 12, composed of seven women and five men, has been assembled for the case. One of the main jurors was dismissed just before deliberations began June 5, due to illness, and was replaced by an alternate. All other alternates were then dismissed.
The trial has lasted six weeks and included testimony from more than 20 witnesses, including the three main complainants: Miriam Haley, a former production assistant on Project Runway who alleged he forced oral sex on her at his Manhattan apartment in 2006, aspiring actress Jessica Mann, who alleges she was raped by Weinstein in 2013 in a Manhattan hotel and former model Kaja Sokola who alleged Weinstein forcibly had oral sex with her in a hotel in 2006.
He faces one charge of rape in the third degree and two charges of criminal sexual act in the first degree, which is the higher felony charge and carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
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