Judge declares mistrial on final Weinstein charge

NEW YORK — The judge overseeing the sex-crimes trial of Harvey Weinstein declared a mistrial Thursday on a final charge against him, after the jury foreperson said he was unwilling to return to deliberations.

The ruling followed a wild day in court Wednesday, during which jurors in Manhattan convicted Weinstein of a felony sex crime but were then sent home to cool off. The jury foreperson had complained to the judge that deliberations had devolved into yelling and that he felt threatened by the other jurors.

Wednesday, the panel of seven women and five men announced a partial verdict, convicting Weinstein on a single count of criminal sexual act and acquitting him of another count of the same charge. They were unable to reach a consensus on a charge of third-degree rape.

Thursday morning, after the foreperson said he was unwilling to continue, the judge thanked the jurors for their service and told them he was obligated to declare a mistrial on the remaining count.

“Sometimes jury deliberations become heated,” the judge, Curtis Farber, said. “I understand this particular deliberation was more heated than some others. That’s unfortunate.”

After releasing the jury, Farber said that despite what the foreperson had said, the other jurors were “extremely disappointed” at the outcome. When he spoke to them, he said, they did not describe the deliberations as contentious. The judge said the jurors did not understand why the foreperson had “bailed out.”

“They thought they were still in the course of deliberations,” he said.

Weinstein was convicted Wednesday of committing a criminal sexual act in the first degree against one accuser and was found not guilty of the same count with regard to a second accuser. The charge on which Weinstein was convicted carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.

At a news conference Thursday afternoon, Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who brought the case, said his office was committed to retrying Weinstein on the remaining charge.

© 2025 The New York Times Company