Harvey Weinstein's rape retrial ends in mistrial after jury fails to reach verdict

Harvey Weinstein's third rape retrial has ended in a mistrial after the jury said it was deadlocked.

A majority-male jury had been weighing whether Weinstein, now 74, raped former aspiring actor Jessica Mann, now aged 40, in 2013 in a New York hotel.

But in a note to Judge Curtis Farber, the jury said it could not reach a unanimous decision.

Weinstein had pleaded not guilty to the charge of rape in the third degree, and he has denied all allegations of nonconsensual sex.

Ms Mann said in her testimony she was staying with a friend at a Manhattan hotel in March 2013 when Weinstein showed up early for a planned breakfast and got a room over her objections.

She said she accompanied Weinstein to the room to talk and made it clear she didn't want sex.

"I said 'no,' over and over, and I tried to leave," she told jurors during five days of testimony.

She said Weinstein blocked her from leaving and grabbed her arms.

Scared, she gave up protesting, went along with his demands to undress, and laid on a bed while he went into a bathroom, Ms Mann told jurors.

Then he raped her, Ms Mann said.

Weinstein's lawyers ​have argued that Ms Mann made up the rape allegation after regretting that her consensual romance with Weinstein failed to advance her film career.

Weinstein has said he was unfaithful to his then-wife and "acted wrongly, but I never assaulted anyone".

While Weinstein has been convicted of other sex crimes on two US coasts and remains behind bars, the mistrial leaves the New York rape charge in limbo after three trials.

Judge 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.

He told lawyers for both sides to return for a hearing in June. It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors would seek ​to try the case for a fourth time.

Weinstein appeared expressionless as court officers ushered him out in his wheelchair.

In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said his office would "consider our next steps in consultation with Ms. Mann".

"As always, we will continue to prosecute crimes of sexual violence - no matter who the defendant is - in a survivor-centered manner that uplifts their voices in the pursuit of justice," Mr Bragg said.

"Her perseverance and bravery are inspiring to the members of my office, and more importantly, to survivors everywhere," he added.

At his ‌first ⁠trial in New York in 2020, Weinstein was convicted of raping Ms Mann and assaulting onetime 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 same jury were ⁠deadlocked on the third-degree rape charge relating to Ms Mann, and Justice Curtis Farber declared a mistrial on that count.

That paved the way for this year's retrial.

Weinstein ​was 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.

(c) Sky News 2026: Harvey Weinstein's rape retrial ends in mistrial after jury fails to reach verdict