The New York judge overseeing the sex crimes trial of Harvey Weinstein on Friday declared a mistrial after the jury said continuing deliberations wouldn’t return a unanimous verdict.
The decision to grant Weinstein’s bid for a mistrial followed a stalemate in which jurors remained deadlocked in the third trial over the rape charge in New York. They deliberated for three days.
Prosecutors have 30 days to decide whether to pursue another retrial on a charge of the third-degree rape of Jessica Mann.
If convicted, Weinstein faced a sentence of up to four years. He’s already served more time in prison than the charge carries, though he’s less than halfway through his 16-year term in California and has yet to be sentenced for the sexual assault charge he was convicted of last year in New York. Judge Curtis Farber has said he would sentence him after a decision on the remaining count is reached.
During the trial, Mann testified that Weinstein raped her in 2013 at a Manhattan hotel. The defense maintained that the encounter was consensual, highlighting friendly notes she wrote at the time to the disgraced producer.
At a trial last year, a New York jury acquitted Weinstein of sexually assault Kaja Sokola. His rape conviction in California is currently on appeal.
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